copingmechanisms

When I go into a Bipolar Mania or Bipolar Depressive state, I feel things and my emotions and my expression returns. It’s at this moment that I can do some writing, practice my guitar, continue teaching myself Portuguese and Spanish, be able to socialise a little more and be what most of you would describe as normal. But then again, the truth is that I’m not wired up like the rest of you. My medication I take for control of my mood swings, my Psychiatrist says is well balanced and ‘working’. When I’m not in either of the two moods (depression or mania) and I’m said to be ‘functioning’, I’m actually just completely numb. Numb to emotions, numb to everything you take for granted. It’s like someone switched off your connection to the world. It’s like the saying that “The Lights Are On But Nobody Is Home”.

So, I looked at the medication I take; I have an antipsychotic called Olanzapine which is used in the treatment of Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder, and I have an antidepressant called Fluoxetine, which works very well in combination with Olanzapine, and I take a mood stabiliser to help me stay level called Lithium. But it’s not a cure for Bipolar Disorder, it’s simply just a remedy that works in reducing the severity of your mood swings to manageable levels but it doesn’t reduce the frequency of them.

When you have an episode of depression or mania I feel that it is like you are functioning, and that you have productivity and purpose once again. I am currently experiencing a high phase, the mania, which is manageable but it is still very erratic. Writing this for example is proving difficult as I’m trying to write the next paragraph before I have finished writing the current one.

Writing however became my primary coping mechanism for my mood swings and the panic I was unable at the time, to ride out.
When the psychosis started I felt weak. That I wasn’t in control of myself. The voices that got louder the more you tried to ignore them. It started with only a solitary word that I wrote. Not enough to keep the audience in my head from heckling me but I was able to start thinking about the words and not the nonsense going on in the background. Slowly the one word became two words, which then became three, and so on until I was able to write full sentences. From these I tried to make a paragraph out of them and join them together as best I could. This was because the words I had written weren’t really in any narrative form that was comprehensible to understand.

Since I started using this method to cope with the erratic nature of mania and psychosis, I have written 27 songs, about my bipolar perspectives on a unipolar world, the illness itself and the associated things that it brings. I started blogging in 2021 with the intention of creating a scrapbook if you will of all my thoughts and feelings about different things I have experienced, and if my Bipolar had any influence on my perspectives and opinions. I found that writing was the best way to cope with my extremes of Bipolar as it occupied my mind, and focused my attention on the writing and away from the nonsense that I had reverberating around my head. I have written 3 short books too which are a continuation in general of my blogs. I’m under no illusion about these being any good or great pieces of musical lyricism or profound literature, but I am proud of myself for doing it. For me though, it is an example of how you can make a negative situation become a positive one. I don’t have the answers for anything about Bipolar Disorder but I do have some insight into how to deal with things that might occur when you suffer from its effects, that I can potentially and hopefully, offer to others a new perspective on how to deal with the effects that are happening.

I have been a far worse person than most people. By this I mean that I can potentially help others and resonate with them in their journeys, as I’ve climbed out of the abyss of deep, dark depression and I’ve fallen from the highest echelons of the unrelenting madness of mania, from which I can now tell my story of how I attempted to get out of it, and maybe even give someone a chance to do it too.

#MightyTogether #MentalHealth

What’ve you been up to today? I’ve just got home from the pub (had four pints of shandy). Been playing a bit of guitar today. I’m breaking down the half hour I’m aiming to play for by doing blocks of 5mins or whatever. I have just been playing changing the chords so no songs in particular but it’s going well. Getting my fingers working and getting the muscle memory back. So far so good. I’m so happy I’m getting back into it 👌🎸

#hobbies #MentalHealth #MentalIllness #MightyTogether #copingmechanisms

Saw this on Pinterest, some are repeated, but I thought this might be helpful. #coping #copingskills #copingmechanisms #neurodivergent #neurodiverse #Neurodiversity #NeurodevelopmentalDisorders #IntellectualDisability #IntellectualDisabilities #Disability #ADHD #Autism #AutismSpectrumDisorder #AspergersSyndrome #Aspergers #SensoryProcessingDisorder #Anxiety #ObsessiveCompulsiveDisorder #MentalHealth #Spoonie #MightyTogether #CheckInWithMe #DistractMe #Dyslexia #Dyscalculia #Dysgraphia #Dyspraxia #TouretteSyndrome

Pop culture has been my trusty sidekick since childhood, starting when I was a kid and getting to pick the music for my heart catheterization. That small, seemingly insignificant moment was the beginning of my lifelong love of music. Although my parents instilled in me a passion for music, it's grown exponentially over the years. In fact, I spent nearly 20 years as a Virtual DJ!

Chronic health issues can be a rollercoaster ride when you feel like you have no control over all the twists and turns life and our health can take. But through it all, pop culture has been a beacon of light for me, a portal to worlds of wonder and excitement, bringing joy and comfort even in the darkest of times.

Video games, movies, books, and music have been my ultimate escape, providing comfort and joy in the face of adversity. Today, various genres of music, along with other forms of entertainment, continue to help me manage my mood and anxiety, from calming ocean sounds for relaxation to classical music for battling insomnia.

P.S. You might be curious about my name. I'll admit, that I wasn't always a fan of the 'princess' title, but I've come to embrace it because, to me, princesses represent hope, dreams, and all things positive.

#pace #chronichealth  #musictherapy #copingmechanisms #chronicwarrior #hopeanddreams

What do I do when I’m sad about the weight I’ve gained in eating disorder treatment?

Dye my hair!

#EatingDisorder #eatingdisordertreatement #EatingDisorderRecovery #Anorexia #Recovery #MentalIllness #copingskills #copingmechanisms #Healing

Hey everyone! My name is Holly and I have been bullet journaling for about a month now. I’m using it to try and improve my mental health and because I find creative outlets help me during difficult times. It’s also a form of mindfulness for me. I have BPD and deal with a lot of intense emotions and can find them quite difficult to manage. I recently added a coping mechanism page to my bullet journal and added some colour and little drawings. I wanted to share it with the group as a suggestion for others but also because I really enjoyed making it. I hope everyone is having a lovely day.
#BulletJournal #BorderlinePersonalityDisorder #copingmechanisms #Drawing