Living with Bipolar Disorder can be challenging

Living with Bipolar Disorder can be challenging

My 3 rules for staying healthy

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I lived most of my life as a happy-go-lucky person filled with vibrancy and a thirst for adventure. Everything was great. I was accepted in one of the best medical schools in the world, then a year later, everything unraveled. My grandmother passed away in 2010, and I slipped into a deep depression that was not responsive to medication. One night, I went manic and tried to end my life. I was hospitalized and later diagnosed with Type 2 Bipolar Disorder.

I was lucky to receive world-class treatment at Johns Hopkins University Hospital, but it was still challenging, and I experienced frequent debilitating depressive episodes while constantly changing medications. I barely finished my dissertation, and I was ultimately unsuccessful in my postdoctoral fellowship. However, after nine years of ups and downs, we finally found a treatment that stabilized me. It’s been two years now, and I haven’t had a major depressive or hypomanic episode since.

Over the past 11 years, I’ve established a routine that helps me manage my disease and remain healthy. They may seem simple and obvious, but they aren’t like other things from which you can take a break. Taking a break is not an option and can have disastrous consequences if not followed.

Rule 1: Take your meds

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This may not be the case for everyone. Still, I’ve tried exercise, therapy, and other homeopathic remedies to reduce the severity of my episodes, but medicine has been the only means of managing my mood. When I was first diagnosed, it was very tempting to stop taking my medication when I felt better. But, found it was a horrible idea that led to major depressive or hypomanic episodes. Missing one dose can alter my mood, and I have to take them religiously. I assess my mood regularly, and if it begins to wane, I reach out to my psychiatrist.

Rule 2: Get proper sleep

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Proper sleep is paramount to my normalcy. Sleeping disturbances are a hallmark of bipolar disorders. Studies have shown that treating insomnia specific to bipolar disorder lowers the overall rate of mood episode relapse, rate of hypomania/mania relapse, and days in a bipolar episode. I employ every possible methodology to protect my sleep.

Rule 3: Be open about being Bipolar

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I first had to recognize that Bipolar disorder is a chronic disease without a cure and may require lifelong treatment. The initial trauma of thinking you have lost all normalcy and happiness in your life is debilitating. However, I found that talking about it can remove the stigma associated with being Bipolar. At first, I found talking to others can be a challenge. I often felt that being bipolar was a scarlet letter, but after talking with others, I realized that it doesn’t have to be. I have found that others can be quite accepting and will often confide about their own or someone close to them who is suffering from mental health problems. When talking to my boss, I learned that Bipolar disorder is a recognized disability; I needed to know this because work accommodations can be made.

Final Thoughts

“Depression is awful beyond words or sounds or images,” Jamison said during a BigThink interview. “It bleeds relationships through suspicion, lack of confidence and self-respect, the inability to enjoy life, to walk or talk or think normally, the exhaustion, the night terrors, the day terrors…. There is nothing good to be said for it.” — Dr. Kay Redfield Jamison

October is National Depression and Mental Health Screening Month. If you or someone you care about believes they may be depressed, it is critical to take the next step and seek professional help and be screened.