stabilized.
“i don't exactly have a schedule now, but the biggest thing is i try to get 8 hours of sleep every night. And i save staying up past 12 for an occasional thing, not a consistent thing. And what i've always found is that the longer i'm stable the more flexible i can get with my schedule, but that when i'm coming out of hell i have to be more consistent about going to bed at a reasonable hour and showing up somewhere every day to work or get my hands dirty. You do not need to be a member of the 9 to 5 beehive to be functional.”-icarus
A lot of people who are bipolar have a hard time focusing on everyday work, and that probably explains partially why so many of us naturally gravitate towards subcultures with standards of living that deviate from the mainstream. While having a lifestyle where more freedom is permitted, like being self-employed, or where very little money is needed, like living in a collective house, dumpster-diving, riding freight trains and hitchhiking etc., might feel more true to your soul and who you eventually want to be, when you’re coming out of a crisis it’s often much easier to get your life together if you accept a little structure from the outside, whether in the form of a consistent job or regular yoga classes.
Work can be really healthy sometimes – it builds self esteem, teaches us lessons about having to get along with other people, and directs our energy away from the problems in our brains and towards something outside ourselves. When you’re in a rut it’s an excuse to get out of the house.
Another note about routine—our routines aren’t limited to some major activity we do for 8 hours every day. Making little routines for yourself, whether it’s drinking a cup of tea every day at 5:00, checking in with your seedlings, or riding your bike to the library, can be so helpful. Make plans to check in with a friend every Tuesday, sign up for a dance class and actually go twice a week, join a group like Food Not Bombs and cook food with a group of people every Friday, play online bingo, whatever it takes to know you’ve got some
commitments to keep and some deliberate moments to punctuate your days.
Exercise
It’s seems pretty obvious that a huge factor in so many people feeling so crazy all the time is that our society has “evolved” to the point where most people don’t have to use their bodies for work anymore. That means most of us spend a lot more time in our heads, which isn’t necessarily always the best place to be!
Physical exercise can be one of the most important aspects of anyone’s mental health.
“One of the most important things I ever did, when I wasn't even sure I wanted live and felt out of mind self-conscious and alienated from other people, was start draggin’ my ass to an incredibly intense
Capoeira Angola class. I was completely lost but fully engaged and absorbed in learning the difficult movements…for the time I was in the class I entered a truly transcendent space where all I could hear was my breathing and all the insidious poison negative thought loops completely receded- there simply wasn’t room for them.
Studies show that exercise at least 3x a week is a better anti-depressant than any of the SSRI's, and the mood-elevating effects kick in quicker and last longer. And it comes from you, not a pill, which is a very different high. Even when happiness or peace still seems elusive you can gird yourself with the sense of achievement in making physical progress, not to mention zero side-effects and detoxing yourself from
years of accumulated pharmaceutical build-up. Try pursuing a class with a reputable teacher of chi gong, tai-chi, yoga --or if you're up to something more energetic, a dance class you always wanted to take. At least these are pro-active healing modalities and not passive recipient-healer set ups. It’s good to have a balance of both in your life- even at your sickest.
And also- don't set yourself up for failure, start with a small goal and get support for it from family friends or therapist. Also, joining a class is much much easier when you’re seriously depressed than trying to focus on something alone- every time you quit you'll beat yourself up- you're much less likely to do so when surrounded by a bunch of other people with a teacher to focus on.” -permafrost
Even if sports aren’t something you’ve ever been into, using your body can make a big difference in your life. A few words from the kid who always got picked last on the teams and didn’t climb a tree till he was 15: I always associated exercise with the jock kids in my school, and I hated them. I always felt really awkward and shameful of my body. I hung out with the punks, and we were too cool to play sports. Quitting smoking cigarettes and swimming
everyday when I was 22 years old saved my life. Everything’s so connected –personally, I’ve learned to go running when my mind is starting to race – exhaust myself, burn up some of that manic energy so that my body can’t help but fall asleep when I need it. And I get so much of my best thinking done when I’m running or swimming. I discovered some years ago that YMCA’s are actually really cool places that give you access to a whole diverse community of people who are all striving to be healthy. They have affordable scholarship memberships, and once you have a card you have access to any YMCA in the country. Having a place to exercise and take a shower everyday has been so good for me at times when my life at home or on the road has been really chaotic.
Exercise doesn’t have to be something you set aside as a separate activity – you can make it part of your daily work whether you’re doing construction or digging in the dirt. You can do simple things like walk or ride a bicycle rather than drive. You can take the stairs rather than the elevator. Stretching in the morning is a simple way to reconnect with your own muscles and calm your mind. Just remember that you are a whole person and not just a brain and finding balance involves healing all of you.
Sleep
Sleep is usually one of the first things to go at the beginning of a manic cycle and one of the only things we can manage to do when we’re miserably depressed. Sleep can clue us in to where we are on our personal ups and downs—you might notice that when you’re starting to get manic you stay up later and later, or wake up earlier every day. You might notice that being unable to get out of bed every morning or wanting to crawl back into bed by sunset means you’re starting to get depressed.
Having regular sleep cycles is definitely key to holding ourselves together. Those of us who are bipolar seem to have really sensitive “internal clocks” and losing even a single night’s sleep can disrupt our whole rhythm and start us down that path to mania. Don’t ban yourself from the space after midnight forever—just think of it as a powerful place to visit that isn’t safe to stay. Staying up late can be intoxicating and some of the best ideas and most amazing experiences
seem to come out of that edge space, but if we let ourselves go there too often or for too long we’re likely to end up in trouble—walking around feeling the whole world creeping under our fingernails and unable to shut off our brains. Good sleep is important to everyone, but
to us it’s precious.