[Under*Over]

Ive noticed that my symptoms tend to be worse in times of stress. My mood becomes more erratic and I have a harder time challenging negative thoughts- like *spoiler* self harm and suicidal ones. I dont always become depressed- sometimes I get manic and hard to reason with and stay up for days on end and cant stop moving. But no matter what, Ive noticed that stress impacts me. Im schizoaffective so my paranoia and hallucinations also become stronger and more frequent.

I know that I cant just STOP doing things because they are stressful. I dont want to do that to myself- to limit my life like that. But Im wondering if there are any tips or anything for how to like, minimize the negative effects.

Do any of you feel your symptoms get worse with stress? And what do you all do about it?

[Mendingmysoul]

Did you try yoga,meditation...things like these?

[USMCBIPOLAR7]

Everything gets so much more difficult and severe for me when stressed and or fatigued

[fern46]

It hasn't happened again, so I cannot speak to a pattern yet. However, my break with reality came at an incredibly stressful time for me. Extreme emotional stress and mental stress were involved in my case.

I am practicing a lot more self care these days. I am also focusing a lot on my physical health. I am careful about the foods and substances I take in and I also take care to exercise regularly to release energy.

It is my great hope that living in a more balanced state will serve me well the next time a major stressor comes along. I was very out of balance before and I feel strongly that my weakened state played a role in how out of control I got when I was sick.

[Wild Coyote]

Originally Posted by Under*Over

Ive noticed that my symptoms tend to be worse in times of stress. My mood becomes more erratic and I have a harder time challenging negative thoughts- like *spoiler* self harm and suicidal ones. I dont always become depressed- sometimes I get manic and hard to reason with and stay up for days on end and cant stop moving. But no matter what, Ive noticed that stress impacts me. Im schizoaffective so my paranoia and hallucinations also become stronger and more frequent.

I know that I cant just STOP doing things because they are stressful. I dont want to do that to myself- to limit my life like that. But Im wondering if there are any tips or anything for how to like, minimize the negative effects.

Do any of you feel your symptoms get worse with stress? And what do you all do about it?

I Under*Over,

I have always found stress to be a factor for increased illness.
i have found this to be true for both medical/physical illness and mental illness.

i try very hard to eliminate as many "triggers" as possible.

[xRavenx]

Light yoga, but sometimes I get too antsy to actually follow through. I'll listen to certain self-help videos. It might be difficult to apply the techniques they talk about, but listening to them helps instill hope. I try to remind myself that this will pass.

[Wild Coyote]

Originally Posted by fern46

It hasn't happened again, so I cannot speak to a pattern yet. However, my break with reality came at an incredibly stressful time for me. Extreme emotional stress and mental stress were involved in my case.

I am practicing a lot more self care these days. I am also focusing a lot on my physical health. I am careful about the foods and substances I take in and I also take care to exercise regularly to release energy.

It is my great hope that living in a more balanced state will serve me well the next time a major stressor comes along. I was very out of balance before and I feel strongly that my weakened state played a role in how out of control I got when I was sick.

Yes! I am sorry this has happened to you, fern.
I am sorry for what you go through, Under*Over.

I first became very ill, on all levels, during an extremely stressful, an extremely toxic, period of my life. i have never recovered, even though I had engaged in a very long (years) period of intensive care (both allopathic and integrative medicine care --which was truly needed),and including very intensive self-care.

In some cases, people can, indeed,turn things around with intensive self-care. I hope this is the case for all.

At the same time, people who do not experience a "turning around" of their illness status, are not to blame. Too often, this group is blamed, especially by the groups who believe they are in total control of their lives. If we are very fortunate, we might have some degree of impact upon our illnesses. That said, we are wise to remain truly open to change in our lives, while not blaming ourselves if illness continues.

[fern46]

Originally Posted by Wild Coyote

Yes! I am sorry this has happened to you, fern.
I am sorry for what you go through, Under*Over.

I first became very ill, on all levels, during an extremely stressful, an extremely toxic, period of my life. i have never recovered, even though I had engaged in a very long (years) period of intensive care (both allopathic and integrative medicine care --which was truly needed),and including very intensive self-care.

In some cases, people can, indeed,turn things around with intensive self-care. I hope this is the case for all.

At the same time, people who do not experience a "turning around" of their illness status, are not to blame. Too often, this group is blamed, especially by the groups who believe they are in total control of their lives. If we are very fortunate, we might have some degree of impact upon our illnesses. That said, we are wise to remain truly open to change in our lives, while not blaming ourselves if illness continues.

I do not see the value in assigning blame. The reality is the exact cause for this spectrum of disorders is unknown and may vary by patient. How can anyone be expected to fix what is broken if we are given nothing concrete to rely upon as the cause?

As a professional, I am called upon to redesign broken systems. My first step is always root cause analysis. I simply cannot be expected to be effective in fixing something unless I have a clear picture of the cause. Psychiatry has failed to offer a true root cause analysis of bipolar disorder. Chemical imbalances are speculation and are still a working hypothesis. Genetic causes are also assumed to be at play, but the exact details are unknown. Brain abnormalities have been studied, but the impact is unclear. I sense we will be fumbling around in the dark for a while on this.

I feel like the only thing one could be held accountable for is consciously choosing to engage in behavior patterns that exacerbate the problem. Even then, accountability is questionable as it is the disorder itself that often causes patients to seek such behaviors. We just don't have the facts and the guessing game is seeing way too many people fall through the cracks. That leaves patients virtually on their own to decide what course of treatment is best. Blame just makes it all worse. I feel like most people are doing the very best they can with an incredibly difficult set of circumstances.

[Wild Coyote]

Originally Posted by fern46

I do not see the value in assigning blame. The reality is the exact cause for this spectrum of disorders is unknown and may vary by patient. How can anyone be expected to fix what is broken if we are given nothing concrete to rely upon as the cause?

As a professional, I am called upon to redesign broken systems. My first step is always root cause analysis. I simply cannot be expected to be effective in fixing something unless I have a clear picture of the cause. Psychiatry has failed to offer a true root cause analysis of bipolar disorder. Chemical imbalances are speculation and are still a working hypothesis. Genetic causes are also assumed to be at play, but the exact details are unknown. Brain abnormalities have been studied, but the impact is unclear. I sense we will be fumbling around in the dark for a while on this.

I feel like the only thing one could be held accountable for is consciously choosing to engage in behavior patterns that exacerbate the problem. Even then, accountability is questionable as it is the disorder itself that often causes patients to seek such behaviors. We just don't have the facts and the guessing game is seeing way too many people fall through the cracks. That leaves patients virtually on their own to decide what course of treatment is best. Blame just makes it all worse. I feel like most people are doing the very best they can with an incredibly difficult set of circumstances.

Thank you! Well said, as usual!

[Nevuary]

I believe that stress has a direct effect on exacerbated symptoms. Both of my hospitalizations came during times of intensely increased stress in my life. The hospitalizations were over ten years apart, but my mental state was much the same and my stress levels were also similar.


You really have to identify what causes extreme stress in your life and get creative about ways to avoid dealing with them. I have found that a loosely scheduled routine helps me mentally plan for what is ahead. I find comfort in sticking to it as closely as I can and seem to handle the out of the way stressors a little better due to having a little control over at least some things in my life. By planning a bit, I am often able to single out stressors or triggers that I anticipate occurring so I can prepare a way around them.


Good luck to you and I wish you a stressless day.

[cashart10]

Originally Posted by Under*Over

Ive noticed that my symptoms tend to be worse in times of stress. My mood becomes more erratic and I have a harder time challenging negative thoughts- like *spoiler* self harm and suicidal ones. I dont always become depressed- sometimes I get manic and hard to reason with and stay up for days on end and cant stop moving. But no matter what, Ive noticed that stress impacts me. Im schizoaffective so my paranoia and hallucinations also become stronger and more frequent.

I know that I cant just STOP doing things because they are stressful. I dont want to do that to myself- to limit my life like that. But Im wondering if there are any tips or anything for how to like, minimize the negative effects.

Do any of you feel your symptoms get worse with stress? And what do you all do about it?

Yes...my episodes tend to arise in both positive and negative stress and like you, I often stop sleeping and become psychotic. My pdoc tries to keep a tight reign on all avoidable stress.