Lent- Giving up something to help with diagnosis

Today is the first day of lent. I went to church and got my ashes butI haven't decided what to give up. Now I know this group really has nothing to do with religion but I was hoping to give up something that would help me deal with my new diagnosis of bipolar and borderline personality disorders. I don't drink already because of my meds and I don't do drugs. Is there anything that you all try to not do in order to help you cope with this disorder? I'm trying to think of things like not thinking negative thoughts, not telling myself negative things. I'm just looking for ideas. What coping skills have you used that I might spend this time learning?

How about taking the time to tell yourself what your strengths are? If you think something negative, think about a positive.

For Lent, I'm not "giving up" anything, because that has proved counterproductive in the past . I've decided to try and get closer to God, and attend church regularly again . My faith gives me strength and peace .

I was thinking about giving up self destructive behaviour. Is it bad for me? Yes. Don't do it then. And all that x

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Thank you all. All of those are good ideas. swheaton and xbabygx both your ideas of giving up negative thoughts and self destructive behaviors are great because I think it would help me practice and turn that into habit. Redbandit, I like you am trying to take this time to learn more about God and my spirituality so that I can use it as an outlet and find peace.

You didn't mention giving up caffeine. Caffeine can be a big thing with bipolar. It has triggered mania a couple times with me.

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I didn't know you should watch caffeine when it comes to bipolar disorder. Good to know. I would give that up but I hate coffee and hardly drink soda. But thanks!

I've given up things that do or might interfere with my health, one at a time.
* Caffeine (used to be seriously addicted, e.g. 16 mugs of coffee a day)
* Sugar, e.g. in desserts, sodas, etc.
* Processed grains

What about always going to bed at X time

I am not religious and not familiar with the Catholic lent, but I am well familiar with the Eastern Orthodox lent, which is an extremely complex, multi-stage undertaking. I will describe it in a nutshell, and maybe some ideas would sound appealing and/or meaningful to you.

Eastern Orthodox Christian Lent is not a switch on / switch off undertaking. First, it follows a huge feast that marks the end of winter and the beginning of spring. That feast comes from an ancient Pagan holiday which was subsumed by Christianity.

Actually, I am not sure about Greece, but in Russia, yes, Christianity appropriated many old Pagan traditions.

so there is a feast during which people eat buttery crepes, play games, greet the spring, do natiobal martial arts, etc.

The feast lasts for a week. So people who start Lent are well fed and a little tired from all that butter and dough.

the first week of Lent introduces mild restrictions. I am not certain, but if I remember correctly, no meat. People can still eat delicious fish dishes, and, in fact, monks over the centuries developed fish recipes specifically for Lent.

then, gradually, week by week, it gets stricter and stricter. Animal fats for cooking are forbidden. I don't remember when alcohol gets forbidden. Then fish, etc, and the very last week before Easter is the strictest. And then people feast on Easter. So basically Lent is a time between two feasts and is a multi-stage process of giving something up.

Say, in your case, you plan to give up negative thinking, which is extremely hard (if you tell yourself to never think of purple flying monkeys... in other words, controlling your thoughts is hard) and self-destructive behaviors (moderate level of difficulty, since controlling behaviors is easier than controlling thoughts).

so if you take the tiered approach from Eastern Orthodoxy, which has been in development for centuries and must have some rational basis under it, you may plan to first give up behaviors and only later, negative thoughts. And, I really like how someone suggested not just giving up negative thoughts but substituting with positive ones.

With all that, controlling thoughts is still so much harder than controlling what fats are used for cooking, so give yourself a break!

Definitely the best one I've heard so far.

Hey! I thought of one! How about trying the whole time to not sit idle and do nothing. Always trying to do something. Don't let yourself get stuck sitting on your couch zoning out. I know that it would help me. I need to be more focused. I'm going to try to do this.

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I'm Catholic, and I gave up sugar/sweets for Lent. Not just because I want to sacrifice something meaningful for the Lord, but because I feel better and my moods are less labile when I don't eat sweets. Besides, I gained some weight back thanks to needing Zyprexa several times in the past few months, and this will give me a jump-start on losing it again. So yes, it's sort of selfish too, but it IS hard, and right now I'm really cranky and out of sorts because I'm going through doughnut withdrawal!

I am Greek Orthodox. Since Great Lent began last Monday (3 March) I have been following the fast, which is basically vegan plus invertebrate seafood (no fish). We Orthodox do not decide to give "something" up for Lent. Keeping the fast is more than sufficient. For me, not having cheese and yoghurt and ice cream and eggs is certainly difficult.

I don't understand how any of this will "help with diagnosis". Have you not yet been diagnosed?

II do not have any religion although I am familiar with Lent, but am giving up sugar because I am addicted to it. I am Bipolar with anxiety disorder and take no medication, as it never helped me. I am curious to know the emotional impact that withdrawal from sugar will bring. If anyone knows and can tell me I appreciate it ! Thank you in advance.

For lent I gave up hope.

It's Mardi Gras weekend and the parades are marching! My biggest deal is over reacting to everything. I usually run on a time delay to run everything through a filter to prevent an unwarranted premature outburst.