People with Bipolar have their own unique experience.
I feel most mentally unwell when I experience manic episodes with psychosis. This means I experience extreme high moods alongside hallucinations and delusions.
For others, their darkest times of Bipolar can be when they are experiencing deep depression. For others, their illness can be a cycle of hypomanic and depressive states.
Regaining and maintaining mental health wealth is so personal that one size does not fit all and Bipolar is certainly not a linear disorder to live with.
Do you know what though?
Neither is life, right?
So, how can you ride the waves of life with ease and even prevent an almighty crash of waves from taking over your life?
One of many ways is by raising your awareness of your triggers and early warning signs to prevent a decline or relapse. Then by making positive changes for yourself can bring you back to a life full of mental health wealth.
Triggers
Triggers are usually stressful events or circumstances that trigger your symptoms of Bipolar.
These can be things like caring responsibilities, bereavement and anniversaries, a job at risk of redundancy/unhealthy environment, physical illness, overwhelm of too many life/workloads or exciting projects and happy life events.
Early Warning Signs
Early warning signs are symptoms and behaviours that show up in your Bipolar.
These can include unstable mood such as feeling extreme excitement and happiness to feeling suicidal, less need for sleep, anxiety, rapid thinking, loss of appetite, self-neglect, and can lead to unhealthy coping habits such as drinking more alcohol.
Positive Changes
Once you have raised your awareness of your own triggers and early warning signs, you can make positive changes to how you think, feel, and behave to bring about mental health wealth and start to shift towards a life full of purpose.
So, I would love to know what positive changes do, or can, you make for your mental health wealth?
Here are my 7 positive changes:
- Having a healthy sleep routine
- Exercise such as taking my dog for a walk and being in nature
- Nurturing my body with mood foods rich in vitamin D, omega 3 and folic acid
- Avoiding too much coffee and staying hydrated with water
- Slowing down my pace of life, taking breaks, self-care and me-time
- Strategies, tools, and techniques such as Coaching and NLP techniques
- Support network and having my vibe tribe such as my fiancé, family, friends, professionals, and clients
Grab your freebie tool from my Detox Toolbox to allow you to start to shift from where you are with your mental health and life now and get super clear on how you want your mental health and life goals to be like instead.
