5 TIPS: Managing Bipolar Disorder Mania & Hypomania!

[Music] hey everyone as always a warm welcome back to puller warriors your free resource for bipolar tools education and growth a special thanks to the International bipolar foundation for helping my videos or reach more people and you can check out their awesome organization by visiting the link in the video description I've had a lot of supporters on patreon asked me to make videos talking about mania lately I already have an entire video dedicated to mania in my faces of bipolar disorder series but people are asking about more specific things like manic spending or managing money strategies for dealing with manic symptoms signs to watch out for and especially things that our family our loved ones can do to help when they notice that we're manic considering mania is among one of the primary diagnostic criteria for bipolar disorder there's so much to cover so I'm going to work on breaking specific topics into smaller segments and focus on this topic a lot more because that's what you guys told me you wanted so today I want to talk about five different ways to approach manic episodes and not just for us but for those around us who want to help also there's different types of mania different levels of severity and people express their symptoms differently it's also really important to remember that once we get past a certain threshold like getting close to psychosis it can be almost impossible to reason with someone who's severely symptomatic there's some good information here but remember to be realistic with your expectations try to be patient which I know is a lot to ask of our supporters sometimes and remember that timing can be everything when it comes to approaching this there's no single solution or advice that works for every situation but as always I'm going to try my very best to help that's exactly what my channel is here for so the first tip for managing mania is probably the most important and not only for our loved ones but for those of us who have bipolar instead of putting out fires all the time let's focus on the source of the fire like I mentioned manic those can vary considerably from person to person but each individual usually has very specific symptoms or signs that'll show up just like clockwork during mania when I was first diagnosed there was so much to learn and I didn't even know where to begin it was hard to focus on anything but the uncontrollable uncomfortable feelings inside after enough time passed I started to notice some very obvious signs that I always missed before because I just didn't know what to look for someone could have probably pointed them out to me back then and I still would have been oblivious to their cause it took time to be able to distinguish the difference between symptoms of an illness and just everyday ups and downs that go along with life I'm sure I had a little bit of denial mixed in there also and it's not like we're just born with this kind of information after talking to loved ones and learning about bipolar I actually started to notice these telltale warning signs that have prevented catastrophic episodes from happening and it could be the simplest things like an unexpected improvement in mood sleeping a lot less jumping on the phone and being more social than usual talking faster an increase in substance abuse and so much more there's a lot of Universal signs when it comes to mania but if we can sit down and figure out what the signs are specifically to us like how the symptoms manifest specifically in us as a unique individual we can gain so much from that one of the very best ways to do this is to ask for the help of someone who's around us a lot I guarantee that there's certain things that they've noticed us say or do before we get manic every single time sometimes these things are really subtle and other times they're blatantly obvious I'd suggest starting a list of certain statements that we might say every time when we're manic certain ways that we might interact with others certain changes in our work or obligations changes in our sexual behavior certain physical signs our spending behavior how active we are how much we're sleeping just basically things like that again I'm talking about how they specifically manifest in us because symptoms can be as diverse as our personalities are now it might be easy for others to notice manic behavior like going out and drinking with friends and spending a bunch of money but it's a lot harder if not impossible sometimes to approach us and say I think you're manic right now and this probably isn't a good idea unless we're on board with getting the help from others bipolar disorder can be sneaky like that because part of the illness is not being able to see that we're ill this absolutely has to be a team effort and we can't ever punish our teammates in the process or they just won't want to play with us anymore it's hard to listen to reason when we're manic but I got so tired of falling on my face so many times that I got stubborn enough to change instead of just being stubborn it took me years to get there and a lot of collateral damage in the process to relationships family friends and my career this illness had already taken so much for me and it was almost like a breaking point or a moment of enlightenment where I took a personal stand at refusing to live like this anymore I finally took my treatment seriously after countless tries and my whole life slowly shifted it didn't happen overnight and it sure as hell wasn't easy I had to give up some things that I enjoyed like certain small comforts or freedoms and I had to let go a lot of a lot of my ego starting to become more self-aware was really hard too because it meant I had to start facing sides of myself that I just didn't like or I wasn't proud of so I had to give up some things but what I gained was far greater even if it was really hard to see that at the time if we can reach a place where we're open to the feedback of others it can be a huge turning point in our lives moving on the second tip for managing mania is also a really good one aside from the obvious vicious cycles of bipolar I'm sure many of you have noticed a pattern like this we get depressed and life falls apart we lay in bed isolating cry and we swear to ourselves that we're gonna quit drinking make doctor's appointments first thing on Monday and that will never treat our partners so horribly again and that will do anything to get better just so we don't have to feel like this well then Monday comes around and we start feeling a little manic we're so relieved that we don't feel like crap anymore and all we want to do is go outside so we can finally enjoy life again all of a sudden we forget to call and make that doctor's appointment but we tell ourselves that we'll make sure we do it tomorrow we feel so good that we rationalize oh I can have a couple of drinks with friends and just have a good time because I'm doing okay right now I'll be okay we stay out late and we don't realize how much we spent buying drinks for everyone and then we get home and our partners upset they not only had to take on all of the responsibilities while we were away but then they see us start the exact same behavior again like drinking and spending that contributed to the depressive episode in the first place now then this causes a massive argument and we end up doing more damage to the relationship and the next thing we know we're right back in bed isolating crying and swearing to ourselves that will change things this time does that sound familiar I mean I've done this so many times I can't even remember now I know firsthand how frustrating this gets for us and for those around us it's impossible to accomplish things when we're depressed and we can't seem to prioritize our health and we're manic or feeling well so here's what's so important to do we absolutely have to take advantage of the times when we're feeling good to prepare for the inevitable times when things get bad a little preparation can seriously soften the blow of a bad episode the only time then I've been able to make bold moves with my treatment was when I was taking advantage of the manic energy instead of wasting it sure it's so much more fun to go out with friends than it is to set up doctor's appointments go to a therapy session or try out some new medications the frustrating ironic part is how we're all about getting better when we're suffering but we don't take advance of the time when when we actually have the energy to do something about it so the whole nasty cycle just starts all over again the next time you're in bed with paralyzing depression maybe make a video talking to your future manic self as a reminder of how desperate you are to not feel like this another thing you could do is to have you or your partner put together some kind of basic reward system if you crossed off your quote bipolar treatment to-do list for the week then go do something that you enjoy or treat yourself to a reward that you've been looking forward to when it comes to changing things that we've been used to doing our entire lives please remember to start out slow I've never managed to quit caffeine alcohol nicotine and start an exercise program all of that all at once they had to be done gradually one by one for it to become a lasting habitual change start by doing something simple like making just one doctor's appointment or reducing your caffeine or alcohol consumption during a manic week or incorporate a once a week meeting or a class if you accomplish just one small change a week that would be almost 50 things a year that you could be doing to move forward with your treatment it might not seem like a lot on a given week but 50 things over a year is a lot there's no race on the puller warrior journey forward is forward that's all that matters alright so now for the third tip with managing manic symptoms this one comes down to delayed gratification which I promise isn't as painful as it sounds okay just take a look around your house right now if I added up the amount of money that I'd spent on hobbies or things that were everything to me when I bought them and now they're just basically a fancy dust collecting device I'd probably be in shock to see the total I think it's great that we get so passionate about so many different things and a lot of us end up with a very eclectic collection of knowledge and hobbies but excessive spending is definitely a very real and big issue for a lot of us I'll probably dedicate an entire video to manic spending but for now I just want to throw this one in here the next time you get excited about starting a pet rock business or you want to build a spaceship out of designer neckties I want you to walk over to whatever you bought during your last hobby spree and I want you to visualize how important it was at the time how much research you did how much time you spent reading and watching videos about your newfound passion and then look at the dust sitting on it and ask yourself why don't you love it so much now and look around the house again and then see how long it takes to find the next expense of mania I've always lived paycheck to paycheck and what changed this was a couple of things first I don't buy anything unless I have the money to pay for it in full I just don't use credit cards they are way too dangerous for manic spenders period if I don't have the money money to get something and I'm still just as interested when I finally save up for it then it might be worth kidding I've often found that by the time I save up for something my interests have changed and I actually feel so relieved that I didn't buy something on that Manic Monday sale the other thing that I'll do is at least a one-week rule if I really want something I have to wait at least one week regardless of whatever super summer savings special is going on sunday sunday sunday right or I'll just base the time on the amount of the item for example for every thousand dollars it'll cost I'll have to wait a month to decide if I want to get it if it costs four thousand dollars then I'll be waiting for months I know that seems like a lot of time in the instant gratification fast food society that we live in where everyone wants something now but there's really a lot of wisdom and a lot of self-control and even confidence that can be gained if you can find the discipline to just wait a little while and if it's still something that's really important that you want it's still gonna be there in four months and the chances are the price will probably even drop a little bit so it's a win-win the last thing that helps a lot is actually getting the opinion of others like my partner a trusted friend or someone in my family I know we don't all share the same intro but they're usually pretty grounded when it comes to the difference between a feasible investment and something totally outlandish for example my partner wouldn't care at all if I said I need a new camera lens that'll help with my channel that I've been interested in for over a year now so I've shown commitment and interest and dedication to it if I said I just now decided how cool geology is and I want to buy some kind of rare rock or crystal that's a thousand dollars that might raise some high brows I've always been really stubborn and not very receptive to the feedback of others and that definitely had to change for me to benefit from so many things I'm mentioning in this video feedback from others is just invaluable to those of us who have bipolar disorder not to sound cliche but you really only can lead a horse to water I had this decide that I was thirsty enough for change well that's getting pretty cliche and cheesy but I had it sure didn't happen overnight and I'm really glad that I could depend on the observation of others around me they're basically my mental health allies moving on to the fourth tip regarding mania now I touched on this in other videos but it really applies to this one and this is extremely important not many people realize that if we take just an antidepressant alone it can add rocket fuel to the mania or if we're taking too much of an antidepressant but not enough of a mood stabilizer the mania can just get out of control bipolar disorder is a spectrum illness and both sides of the spectrum need to be treated for there to be any kind of balance it's so common for people who have bipolar to be initially misdiagnosed with unipolar depression because so many people just talk about the depression and had no idea that mania is isn't normal medication induced mania is a lot more common than you might think sometimes just a small adjustment with our meds can make a profound difference this could include increasing or adding a mood stabilizer decreasing or eventually tapering off of an antidepressant or switching to newer medications that just show better prom for controlling the mania if you have bipolar and are only taking a single medication I would highly recommend talking to your doctor about that as soon as you can we've made it to the fifth and final tip for this video and this is another really good one for people that live in places like Florida I guarantee that they don't just sit around when a major hurricane is coming they prepare for it it just makes sense bipolar disorder has some catastrophic storms involved with it and not a lot of us prepare for those we already talked about the warning signs - look look out for us so that would be like getting a news flash that a hurricane is coming and just ignore it I could easily tell when I'm dangerously manic and over exerting myself I've done it so many times now where I just know the difference between subtle mania and a potential problem when I'm feeling manic if I make an effort to give my body the best nutrients possible make sure I take sleep medications so my sleep isn't disrupted and remember to consciously pace myself when I'm socialising I can really soften the blow when the winner if the depression Khan comes in a noticeable way now it took years for me to master something like this most of us don't eat much more manic we don't sleep much and then we'll just go go go until our tank is totally on empty it's like we keep passing signs for the gas station when the low fuel light is just staring us in the face frickin mania right I also do what's called patting my schedule for example I'll record multiple videos at once so I'll be prepared if I'm sick for a week and I can't make content for my channel the better care we can take of ourselves when we're manic the milder the depressive episode is going to be the better care we take of ourselves and we're depressed the less time the depressive episode is going to last so the next time you see warning signs that a storm is coming and you think that your tank is on empty maybe consider padding your schedule or preparing a little more for the possible fall out of the storm that might be coming so when I first started making this video I was going to talk about 10 different tips Romania but this topic is so in-depth that I just don't want to rush information and make sure that it's not too much to digest in just one time so that being said um and have lots of more videos expanding on ways to manage major symptoms like mania if you'd like to help decide what I talked about on my channel have a direct line of communication to me because I can't always get to all the comments and access a lot of videos I think over 20 now that aren't even on YouTube check out the link to my patreon page in the very top of my video descriptions if you want to make the biggest impact on my ability to help others please consider becoming a patron thank you so much for spending this time with me and supporting what I do by watching or interacting with my channel I wish all of you a peaceful week stay well and we'll see you back here soon for another polar warrior video [Music]

Channel: Polar Warriors

Views: 97,404

Keywords: Bipolar Disorder, Bipolar, Mania, Bipolar Mania, Bipolar Symptoms, Bipolar help, Bipolar Hypomania, Hypomania, Polar Warriors, Signs of Bipolar Mania, Signs of Bipolar Disorder, Bipolar Counseling, Manic Depression, Bipolar Treatment

Id: GiBVw99BToM

Length: 19min 2sec (1142 seconds)

Published: Mon Jul 02 2018