Does it get better?

Hello, it's been a year since I realized something was definitely wrong with my mood. Since then I've struggled with spiky highs and crashing lows. I don't want this to be my life. I'm 19 and I feel like my best years are being wasted and there's nothing I can do, I feel helpless. My psychiatrist tells me to be patient because bipolar is stronger during teenage years and people tell me to be strong because it will get better but I've been trying to grasp onto hope for a year now and I'm starting to lose hope. Should I just accept that this is the way my life is going to be now?
Thank you for listening.

Hi, AleneElora. I developed bipolar when I was in my late forties, so I can't speak personally about bipolar in younger people. But I do know that it will get better for you. The docs will find the combo of meds that will be helpful to you and your emotions will settle down some when you become an adult.

I have been over four years without any episodes, and I am sure some other people have been able to have such "reprieves," too. Life can be good, despite bipolar. Okay?

@Alene, although I am currently not taking medicines, the best word to describe my relation to your experience is exactly the same. I have wasted more than a year since it started when I was 17. This period of time is the time I am studying in a college filled with pop kidz and all sorts of taters. Now 19, and currently working as an intern for another 2.5 months has made me a lot calmer than usual but for now.

You have to trust us, this does not end here, you will definitely get better if you dedicate patience for it. I honestly really, understand the frustration behind thinking that you're gonna wreck a precious year in your life.

Do not lose hope. You would eventually come to understand that your life will not be limited simply due to this illness, and that you have the capacity to be better than letting it define you.

We will be there for you. We do not know each other in real life, but we recognize each other by our traits.

It can be quite a thing to navigate our heads around sometimes.

I've found that there kind of is no sort of predictability to any of this.

We can swing high / low ... for short durations ... long durations ... some people can establish some kind of patterns and say their depression lasts "xyz", others not etc etc ...

I don't know about other so I speak for myself but I guess for me there hasn't really been any kind of "constant" when it comes to my bipolar ...

So yes I can totally get your statement when you say: "just accept this is how my life is going to be" ... cos let's face it we're likely to have this for some time to come ...

I guess it's about finding ways to help manage our symptoms when we do have them - figuring out what strategies help safeguard us when we're either manic or depressed - cos one thing I've found out is we're just so different when it comes to what works for us (some are a given; healthy eating; trying to maintain regular hours of sleep etc) but things like meds and that I guess we're so diverse.

I get this last year hasn't been that great for you and my wish for you is that as you move forward through this you are able to find mechanisms that serve in your best interests and enable your mental health to be the best that it can possibly be.

Wow, four years without any episodes sounds like heaven to be honest. I've spent a year ultra rapid cycling with a few weeks depressed and a few weeks manic. Sometimes my mood changes in a matter of days or even hours.

It's so good to meet someone the same age as me. It's rough isn't it? Thank you for your kind words. I really appreciate how someone who doesn't know me personally can be so sweet and understanding...

It's difficult to maintain those healthy habits when I'm depressed. And I haven't really gotten around to learning any self coping techniques...
Thank you for your support.

Stability cannot be found via medication/diet/exercise alone. You need to develop the skills to function within the mood episode (and all the nasty surprises in between). If you have no coping skills you will never be stable. Therapy etc can be hard work but the sooner you learn to look after yourself the sooner you will find stability and in the long term, hope to stay there within the boundries of a mental illness.

What are some of your symptoms? Maybe some of us here can share some coping techniques with you?

A lot of great advice here. You're fortunate to have caught it early. At least now you have a path, a way forward. What therapy to go for, what meds to take, the right questions to ask, and so on. I spent my whole life bouncing back and forth from depressive lows to manic highs thinking I was broken, or flawed on some fundamental level, only to finally be diagnosed at 32.

Bipolar doesn't have to be a curse. It is treatable, and I have no doubt things will get better for you!

^^THIS^^
I'm 34 and was just diagnosed this year. I spent my twenties in various states of hypomania, which resulted in me almost destroying myself and everyone I love. I wish I was diagnosed earlier so I could have avoided all that pain. I promise you it will get better. Now that you know what's wrong you will be able to avoid a lot of the mess that comes with manic behavior. Your best years are ahead of you, not behind you.

Theories say it will always be there but it can be managed if treated appropriately. Unlike a pathology which can be "cured", a mental illness has no blood test or scan to confirm. I'm recently diagnosed and was under the impression in the beginning that things would sort of "go away" but I'm finding even in a seven month time frame, I'm still up and down. Recognition of the condition helps me realize that things will return to "normal" for some time and I just go from there.

IMO, it's all about tweaks, finding a balance, and doing what works well for you.

There's always going to be some semblance of a struggle for someone with BP. I'm just going to be honest with that. But I have found that paying attention and monitoring my moods, keeping my docs informed, being open to med changes and/or adjustments, you can achieve stability. Sure you will still have off days and some days you may really struggle. It takes a lot of work to maintain a healthy mind but its do-able, so yes, it does get better.

I was diagnosed at 15 and went through HELL for at least 3 or 4 years. Then, I became so much better I believed I was either healed or never had BP in the first place. For EIGHT years, minus postpartum depression, I had only mild episodes (that I only recognize in hindsight). Of course, I had a psychotic break at 28 when my BP came back with a vengeance. I've lived in a consistent hell for the last 3 years that is either as bad as or worse than it was in high school. I am waiting on those 8 years to reappear. It is important to remember the BP is cyclical and that you will have periods of normalcy. Also, some folks become stable on medications and remain that way for the length of their lives.

I was diagnosed late. I do wish I knew about it much much earlier, I would have saved myself a hell of a lot of grief and whatnot.

Bipolar can be managed , its always going to be around lurking, especially when normal average life stresses happen.

I think it needs to be attacked from all sides.. Meds if you go that route, Mindfulness, Coping skills, Healthy Sleep hygiene, Exercise, Healthy foods.. etc etc etc the list goes on and on..

It's really a never ending process.. But once you find your groove and how to best address your Bipolar its manageable.

I remind myself often that Bipolar isn't the worse thing I could have, it helps me keep things in perspective (for me)

Yes. You're lucky you have been diagnosed early.

I wasted my early twenties making poor decisions, drinking heavily, and getting into trouble. I think I was finally diagnosed at 25 or something? Once I got on the right meds I felt much better. And things stabled out for awhile, until I got PPD after my daughter was born (at 29), and then the bp kind of reared it's ugly head again (I am now 32).

It's always there. I mean, there are remission periods that can last years (well, pre my last episode I had two years episode free). I guess you kind of learn to live with it, like it's something you get used to? I don't know. I'm trying not to be negative here. I definitely know the signs now of a nasty manic/mixed/psychotic/whatever episode coming on, so I think I'll be able to avoid having another one of those.

Depression however... beats me.

Accept it, embrace it. Research all that you can. Get medicated, find a cocktail that works for you, get therapy, love and support from friends and family.

Take it one day at a time.

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At 19, you would probably be thinking 'how am I going to live the rest of my life with this?' I was diagnosed with a heart condition in my late teens, and I know they were my thoughts at the time. I thought my life was ruined when it had only just begun.

Since then a few years have come and gone, I have learned to live and manage and cope with my heart, and overall it has not impeded my life all that much. Unfortunately, I was not diagnosed with bipolar until a lot of damage had been done. But, like my heart, I have learned to live and manage and cope with bipolar, well, as well as anyone can.

This maybe something you have to live WITH for a lifetime, but it does not have to BE your lifetime. Knowing you have bipolar now, you are now able to learn, perhaps with the assistance of Pdoc, T and self healing techniques how to cope, regulate and manage your life with it from now on. It is not a life sentence, something that will end your life. It is something that will change your life, and it is not necessarily always for the worse.....

xXx