[mjw24]

I saw my therapist recently who specializes in cognitive behavioral therapy. I told him that my manic/depressive episodes often coincide with the seasons. For example, the winter often brings depression whereas the summer tends to bring on mania or hypomania. He said that is known as seasonal affective disorder (not new news to me)...then he said something interesting...something that made perfect sense..."On a cold dark winter day what is your first thought when you go outside?" I said, " aw **** this sucks! It's cold as hell! Damn! Great I have to drive in this??" He said "That's one way to say it. You are making a judgment. You are setting yourself up and conditioning yourself to be depressed when it's cold or the weather sucks"... "OK..." I said. "If you walked outside and made an OBSERVATION instead of a JUDGEMENT you would probably feel less depressed..." he said. "What do you mean?" I said. "Imagine walking out and simply making the statement 'it's cold out" with no emotion behind it. You are simply observing the weather and there is no implication that the weather or environment will have any impact on how your day turns out." I thought this was really valuable advice. You can apply it to anything. Give it a try. I hope it gives at least one of you some kind of peace in your life. MAKE OBSERVATIONS. DON'T MAKE JUDGEMENTS.

[Yours_Truly]

I'll have to try this. It seems like I'm just thinking but actually I'm making all kinds of judgements all throughout the day. Thanks.

[zijax]

That's Bhuddist bs

[mjw24]

Originally Posted by Yours_Truly

I'll have to try this. It seems like I'm just thinking but actually I'm making all kinds of judgements all throughout the day. Thanks.

No prob! Hug back

[mjw24]

Originally Posted by zijax

That's Bhuddist bs

Sorry you feel that way. Sucks to be angry. I get it. I don't have a clue exactly what you have been through or are dealing with but I'm sure it's tough. Hope you start feeling better. Message me if you need to talk or anything. I have no clue if this is you or not but I have had pretty much every type of episode you can imagine and all of them are fueled by irritability and rage...the worst part is having no hope. What I said...my advice...it's obviously not for everybody. Sorry it didn't help you. Wish I had something meaningful to say for you...sorry.

[Moose72]

mania hit me a couple weeks ago. I dont believe your doc

[HALLIEBETH87]

That's DBT

[mjw24]

Originally Posted by Moose72

mania hit me a couple weeks ago. I dont believe your doc

He's not saying you can completely control your moods 100%. He's basically saying be mindful of the factors you can control. We are bipolar and no matter what we think, we are going to have episodes and mood swings...I think we can all agree on that. This is a good coping mechanism if you make the effort to change some ways of thinking and rationalize things it can help...listen if there was a cure-all and it was just a mindset none of us would be here and none of us would need meds...unfortunately the reality is that we do need meds. We just need to realize that the meds won't do all the work for us. We have to make a conscious effort to help ourselves.

[mjw24]

Originally Posted by HALLIEBETH87

That's DBT

Yeah I think DBT and CBT have a lot of the same ideas...right?

[HALLIEBETH87]

Originally Posted by mjw24

Yeah I think DBT and CBT have a lot of the same ideas...right?

DBT is big on non judgmental thinking. Observe-describe-participate.

[raspberrytorte]

This sounds like what my husband tells me I should try when I'm depressed.

Your therapist gave you excellent advice, mjw. Thank you for sharing this.

Obviously it's not going to cure your depression, but it'll help.

[mjw24]

Originally Posted by raspberrytorte

This sounds like what my husband tells me I should try when I'm depressed.

Your therapist gave you excellent advice, mjw. Thank you for sharing this.

Obviously it's not going to cure your depression, but it'll help.

Yeah exactly. This is a very helpful book that the same doctor had me get for a cbt group I did w him about 3 years ago...

https://www.valorebooks.com/textbook...&date=10/02/16

Obviously you can get it anywhere but I saw that this sight had it for relatively cheap.

[wildcat04]

Originally Posted by mjw24

I saw my therapist recently who specializes in cognitive behavioral therapy. I told him that my manic/depressive episodes often coincide with the seasons. For example, the winter often brings depression whereas the summer tends to bring on mania or hypomania. He said that is known as seasonal affective disorder (not new news to me)...then he said something interesting...something that made perfect sense..."On a cold dark winter day what is your first thought when you go outside?" I said, " aw **** this sucks! It's cold as hell! Damn! Great I have to drive in this??" He said "That's one way to say it. You are making a judgment. You are setting yourself up and conditioning yourself to be depressed when it's cold or the weather sucks"... "OK..." I said. "If you walked outside and made an OBSERVATION instead of a JUDGEMENT you would probably feel less depressed..." he said. "What do you mean?" I said. "Imagine walking out and simply making the statement 'it's cold out" with no emotion behind it. You are simply observing the weather and there is no implication that the weather or environment will have any impact on how your day turns out." I thought this was really valuable advice. You can apply it to anything. Give it a try. I hope it gives at least one of you some kind of peace in your life. MAKE OBSERVATIONS. DON'T MAKE JUDGEMENTS.

Great advice! I, however, get depressed in spring and summer and at my happiest in the fall/winter!

[venusss]

I don't think I will be able to make myself enjoy winters and autumns.

[mjw24]

Originally Posted by wildcat04

Great advice! I, however, get depressed in spring and summer and at my happiest in the fall/winter!

Thanks! Depression sucks no matter what time of year. Try making a conscious effort to think about your automatic thoughts when those seasons come then try applying this method. Hope that helps!

[mjw24]

Originally Posted by venusss

I don't think I will be able to make myself enjoy winters and autumns.

You don't have to make yourself. When you say it that way though you're setting yourself up. Nobody wants to have to "make" or "force" themselves to do anything. You're already subconsciously telling yourself that you don't really WANT to change your thinking, but you have to MAKE yourself. Truth is you might be depressed no matter what mentality you have but if you think about it like "you know what? I might be depressed but there are ways to make it better (not cure) and I really WANT to make things better" then things will improve. A lot of us get discouraged and more depressed I think if we try to get out of it and can't...like the I'll never get any better no matter what attitude. I think we've all been there, but that too sets us up for more pain. Keep it realistic...I'm bipolar, I'm depressed, I can't change that but I can put some temporary band aids on it so it doesn't hurt so much. I hope that's good advice or helpful for you...