Bipolar Emotions and Stress versus Regular Life

How do you tell the difference between Bipolar related responses and actions versus just regular life? I've been going through some tough times and just can't tell anymore. I'm usually pretty even and under control but there is so much bad happening I can't seem to keep level. I'm upset all the time but sometimes isn't that just life? When life is hard and many changes happen at once, wouldn't everyone be upset and stressed? I can't tell the difference anymore. Feel like I want to blame being bipolar for all my problems but it just doesn't seem right. Any thoughts?

To me, it's mostly a question of whether the mood is driving the events or the events are driving the mood. I can be sad while hypomanic if something bad happens. I will still laugh at a really funny joke or situation while depressed. But when nothing external is pushing me either way, how do I feel?

BTW, I have to remind myself of that a lot. I have repressed emotions a long time and I am working on getting past that, so I actually get confused also. Is this a short term emotional low?

Being bipolar can definitely complicate how I handle certain challenges or changes in life as well as presenting some of its own, but I never "blame being bipolar" for any of my problems since "being bipolar" actually *is* one of my problems to be handled.

There is no difference other than the fact that my being bipolar can either heighten (manic) or worsen (depressive) the overall experience.

Yes, I believe so, and the challenge there is do whatever we can to try to rise above or overcome the experience being greatly affected by our being bipolar.

Stress is what throws me into an episode more often than not. When I'm under stress I have to be watchful. My doctor asked me "if what's happening with your son were fixed, would you be depressed right now" and I could honestly answer "yes" we both agreed I was not clinically depressed but he's worried I'm heading there and so am I. My sleep has began to be effected....my appetite.....I feel like I'm constantly crawling out of my skin....my limbs feel like they are encased in cement and walking/moving is very labored and much more difficult than normal. I'm getting obsessive thoughts and compulsive ideas. My self care is slipping but I'm still able to pull most stuff off. It's getting more and more difficult by the day though. Once I lose functioning, it's obvious something more than "life" is to blame. I may need to start my anti-depressant soon. Once I start to freeze and he incapable of moving forward to help my situation, I consider it bipolar related and ask for help. I think each person with bipolar has their own triggers and cues to watch for. Learning what those are is imperative to learning to live with this illness.

It isn't that way for me. When depressed, I may choose not to accept an invitation to some experience even though I have no plans and it is something I am interested in. When hypomanic, I may accept an invitation I would normally have turned down because it is something I am not interested in (being asked to participate nearly always piques my interest when hypomanic). My choices are influenced by my bipolar disorder, resulting in completely different experiences depending on whether I am up or down.
But if something bad happens that brings me down, I would likely turn down plans no matter what my mental state.

Exactly: "...my being bipolar can either heighten (manic) or worsen (depressive) the overall experience." That includes decision making.

I believe that mental illnesses are medical illnesses with environmental triggers.

It blows my mind that hyperacusis is in the DSM. One ear is way worse than the other; my left ear will get crackling static when sound is too loud for me (at a level that doesn't bother others) while the right can handle it louder. Certain sounds are painful even if they are not all that loud. Physical (seems like) pain. I can believe this is happening in my brain but I think it is bad "wiring" not bad thinking.

I guess I missed the significance of "overall". Sorry I misunderstood...

While having a mood disorder can color all aspects of life, in my opinion it is a matter of context. Having low lows and high highs that actually match the external situation is NOT mental illness, it is feeling emotions strongly. It's when ones internal mood state is in stark contrast to what is going on around them that it becomes illness.

I wake up and feel like shiit for absolutely no reason. Something great just happened to me and yet I still feel miserable = depression

My cat has to get put to sleep, I get a flat tire, and just received a bad work review. I wake up and feel like shiit and I feel miserable = life and normal emotions.

I wake up and feel the BEST EVER, feeling charmed and confident and excited and want to call all my friends. A bunch of crappy things just happened and yet they don't seem to bother me, bc I am sure everything will work out splendidly in the end. I feel amazing and can't stop grinning = hypomania.

I wake up after having an awesome date with a new guy I really like, I just recently got a promotion at work, and I am about to adopt a new kitten. I feel amazing and can't stop grinning = life and normal human emotions.

These may be a bit oversimplifying but you get the idea. While it it alwaYs important to watch for returning symptoms, in my opinion one of the worst things about having a MI is when we start to second guess run of the mill sadness and happiness as disease.
Take it easy.

Who is to say exactly what is the correct emotional response to an event? What is the accepted emotion-spectrum for the event(s)? Who decides that spectrum? Who calculates the multitude of conditional probabilities and if-then statements to determine what is the socially(and possibly therefore medically) acceptable response to an event or an amalgamation of events? The current social zeitgeist? Medical professionals? It seems to be reduced to observable behavior and whether or not that observable behavior becomes an abnormal behavior where the definition of that abnormal behavior can fluctuate depending on one's native culture, the culture and/or society they currently inhabit, and more importantly the time period. It seems to me that depending on where you are in the world and the time period, one emotional behavior is acceptable at point (a,b) and deemed abnormal at point (c,d), where "a" and "c" are location and "b" and "d" are time period.

All that said, I do think there are universal and timeless emotional states that may or may not stem from an environmental factor, in some form, that are and can promote states of psychological/physiological "un-health." Also, mass hysteria seems to be a thing so just because an emotion-behavior is not abnormal within a large group doesn't necessarily mean that it's not unhealthy. There seems to need to be some form of observing nuance to determine the "correct" emotion-behavior.

Maybe I should have tried to describe all of that more clearly by adding this type of context:

As best I can, I try to step back and observe my actual *actions* apart from emotion and then look for ways to possibly keep my bipolar emotions from driving my actions beyond workable or acceptable norms.

I am not really good at doing that except when slightly hypomanic, which has been my recent state since a med adjustment a couple of months ago. Before that, I was depressed for the vast majority of the prior 24 years with only a few "breaks" where I was hypomanic for about 5 days about twice a year.

It's interesting that my new pdoc and tdoc both commented on how self aware I am because it is kind of a new thing. It flipped a switch when my primary NP prescribed lamictal. During the long dark period, my observations were not accurate and were more about how other people caused all my problems.

I just had something of an "aha moment". I think I was far less likely to be moved by regular life's emotions while depressed. I did smile sometimes but very rarely laughed. But while hypomanic, a sad event can bring me down and make me cry but I am still in the hypomanic state. My pdoc talked to me about that when I wondered if it was rapid cycling.

You said it so much better than I could. When I'm having a mood episode that is totally divorced from my external stimuli, it's the disorder. When I'm feeling low because something bad happened, it's normal emotions. Something good happens and I'm happy? Normal.

Hearing the sound of rushing water in the hospital hallway outside my room? Psychosis. Family and friends putting me in the hospital because they're worried I'm going to off myself? Suicidal depression.

There are normal ranges of emotions brought on by external situations, and that's all they are. By definition mood disorder episodes aren't triggered by external events.

Contrary to the popular opinion of Internet support forums, stress indeed can cause mood disorders and episodes in people who are susceptible to them. Life events triggering an episode does not mean it's not a mood disorder. What needs to be looked at in order to determine if its mood related vs. natural life is the degree of loss of function. It can be said that if no loss of function or problems with interpersonal relations occurs, it's not a mood episode....but it cannot be said with any legitimacy that if your life sucks you can't be having a mood episode. My neighbor could go through the stress I am and be very down but I get the birds, crickets and television talking to me. My neighbor might find it hard to get out of bed and struggle to get things done, I don't get out of bed or eat. It's the loss of function we need to most be concerned with. That is not to say that someone who has not lost function doesn't need and deserve help to get through their stress, but it's unlikely an antipsychotic would be needed. There is a big misunderstanding regarding the role stress can play in non personality disorder related mental illness.

Who is to say what's normal....sure, I get that.....but wanting to kill yourself over stress is NOT normal. If someone functions fine, no need to worry and why even be here really. Things which fall into a "no harm done" category don't need a label, obviously. Mental illness spills over into not just OUR entire lives, but the lives of the people who care about us too. When we lose our ability to function, we need help.

Look up the DSM criteria for mood episodes. Absolutely nothing in there about situational issues. Rather, it's a differentiating criteria that specifies symptoms must present over a marked period of time. The specifications are very clear, and have absolutely nothing to do with external stimuli. Quite the contrary.

If you're already in an episode and your reaction is more extreme than your neighbor's that's to be expected. But external stimuli _causing_ the episode? No.

My experience and observations:

Mood episodes can come about, no matter the external stimuli.
Mood episodes can also come about due to external stimuli.

Just examples:

If a person is stable for a year, then goes through a severe physical assault (external stimuli/stressor), which then brings the person into a severe BP depression.

If a person is stable for a year, then suddenly loses 4 family members in a traumatic car accident, which then brings on a severe bipolar depression.

If a person is stable, attends a rowdy concert, then starts an episode of hypomania.

I have witnessed all of the above, external events (stressors) which shifted mood, bringing on a mood episode in response to the external stressor/stimuli.

Am I misunderstanding?


WC

You are exactly correct WC. BioChe, first, he DSM is far from HARD science or a complete explanation of complex problems. Next, mental illness in general is still poorly understsndstood. I've asked 4 doctors to date if stress can cause episodes or if it means I have a personality disorder. They have all indicated stress can and I show no signs of a PD. all of my severe episodes have come shortly after major stress. I assumed I had nervous breakdowns but no. There are indeed triggers for some with BP. I know it seems more "legit" if it comes out of nowhere. I can get through stress and then have an episode soon after. I wish I had a life where I could say "it came out of nowhere" ....it's a nice gig if you can get it. I've seen well meaning people incorrectly tell posters here "that behavior is not BP RELATED". What they should instead say is "that is not part of my own personal BP" because believe it or not, we have personal individual things that happen to us when in an episode.

The reason I'm so concerned with people not accepting BP has triggers is because it can have serious consequences. I once saw a post (maybe here) which read "I don't have BP, I have a bad life and there is no cure for that". When a healthy person goes through stress, the body produces extra energy and whatnot to help the person endure and get out of the stress. When omeone is unwell, they can be completely incapable of getting out of the situation and it all just snowballs. That is why a loss of functioning is a good yard stick to measure what's happening to us (when we are well enough to even see it)

Music can trigger me, lack of sleep, stress, alcohol, etc.

It's not the stress that causes the illness. It's a predisposition to the illness. But epigenetics and environmental factors cause the illness to be expressed. It doesn't matter if it comes out of nowhere or is caused by something environmental, it needs medical intervention.

I don't think stress is a trigger, but I would be very surprised if it didn't have an effect on the frequency, duration and severity of mood swings. Something to note about the article I am about to link to - it looks very much like it was put together to hawk all the questionable supplements it has ads for all over the page and uses a big font to give them more real estate, but it is surprisingly well researched. The numbered citations generally lead to scholarly papers to back up the claims about what stress does to your blood, brain, hormones and whatnot. What they don't have is links to prove that what they are pushing does anything to help.
https://bebrainfit.com/effects-chronic-stress-brain/

Anyone who believes that stress and stressful events can't trigger mental illness symptoms is flat-out incorrect. Everything from weather to noisy neighbors to car problems to death of a loved one can trigger symptoms and set off an episode.

Hmm. I must have missed something here bc it sounds like people here are arguing about totally different things. Of course stress can trigger or exacerbate a mood episode in someone with a history of mood disorders. I don't see where that idea was posited. But that doesn't mean it caused the disorder. One can be depressed and having crappy life stuff happen just makes it worse. But it is also possible that ones behavior or extreme mood state is a reasonable response to the circumstances. That is why grief after a loss is not a diagnosable llness. It doesn't mean that it doesn't Warrent help or that it cant turn into something else or trigger an episode in someone susceptible.

My point was more that depressive or manic symptoms and behaviors often do NOT match what is going on aRound them. You can have every single thing going great for you in life and yet still be depressed bc your brain cannot experience any joy at your good fortune. How is a depression in someone who has had a charmed life somehow a better gig or less valid than a depression in someone who has had a lot of bad luck in life? Pain is pain. For myself, when I realize that my reactions and emotions are lllogical rsponses to my external environment, it is big indicator that I am probably having symptoms. It becomes dicey when every emotion or mood state becomes attributed to disease. We are supposed to feel things strongly.

I feel like the OP was just asking how to differentiate between bipolar and normal reactions to life circumstances and people were giving their opinions. None of this is simple or clear cut. But arguing over semantics just doesn't seem useful to me. I could be way off base here and be reading into this wrong or reacting hypersensitively to this (contrary to what I would like to believe I am not always or even often right), and if that is the case then pleAse just ignore this. But for some reason reading people's responses to this thread has left me with a negative vibe. We are all here for the same reason which is to give and get support and share our own experiences. Anyhow, Take care everybody.

Well said. Thank you!

NayNay, if it's all just arguing semantics for you, no need to reply right? But obviously you wanted to reply and the same goes for other posters. And that is ok for all of us....to speak our minds. I always admit when I'm wrong once I see it. I welcome the opportunity to grow and learn. Earlier in this thread it was stated that BP is not caused by external stimuli and this just isn't true. They are still ensure what causes BP but it is known that external stimuli can have an effect on those with the condition and push a person into an episode. The reason I felt I needed to clarify was because it's dangerous to say external stimuli doesn't have an effect. It can keep people from seeking help when they really need it. I'm currently under a lot of stress and my doctors, family and I are all on guard....as we should be. I mentioned before the person who posted on a support forum saying "I don't have BP, I have a bad life and there is no fix for that". The person was led to believe external stimuli cancelled out the possibility of being in an episode and incorrectly assumed that no help could be found. Help is available for any episode, be it caused from internal or external stimuli. When I said a stress free life is a nice gig if you can get it, I was being sarcastic in the sense that nobody has a stress free life really. Pain is pain but if you cant see how being depressed with a charmed life would be much better than being depressed with a cursed one, I probably can't explain it to you. It's not a sports match or pissing contest to see who has it worse, depression is deadly regardless but with a charmed life you will have much better access to care and people who can help. What I wrote was intended to help, not hurt anyone. Some people get very offended when they are wrong and can't admit it (my dad comes to mind) others grow and learn from mistakes. I'm not saying I'm right, I'm just saying what doctors have told me and my own research and psych classes have taught me. I only mean to help and I think that's what each person who posted means to do.