Working with your Support System

Who’s your support system? Your friends, your family, your doctor, your pets, your priest, your rabbi, your kids, your bed, your bathtub, your books, your computer....ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING that makes you feel good about yourself! When you’re bipolar, you may need help at any given time. You never know when something will kick in and an episode might occur. So utilize anybody and anything that might be able to calm you down and help you get stable again.

Over the years I’ve run the whole spectrum. I’ve been to my psychiatrist, I’ve had late night talks with my parents, I’ve spent four hours in a bathtub, I’ve hugged my dog, I’ve slept 12 hours a day...WHATEVER WAS NEEDED to feel balanced again. Remember that there are two main goals for the average bipolar patient: don’t commit suicide and don’t get in a position where hospitalization is necessary. Now, you might laugh at that statement. You might be someone who has only been in the hospital once, or maybe never, and you don’t think something like that will happen. Well, I’m sorry to burst your bubble. There will probably be times in the future where you will think back on those two goals and realize why I mentioned them.

For me, whenever I get really stressed or worried, or when I lose sleep...I start thinking about suicide. It is not fun, and I don’t consciously choose to do it, but the thoughts are there. So, a long time ago I set up a PRIME DIRECTIVE for myself – no suicide! No matter what happened, no matter how bad things got, even if I had to spend months in a hospital – I still wasn’t going to kill myself. You need to make it a goal for yourself, too.

Bipolar disorder is a nasty illness, and the 20% death rate doesn’t come from heart attacks.

So, use what you’ve got! If you feel like you don’t have enough of a support system, create one! Make more friends! Get a hot tub! Get some pets! Get a girlfriend or a boyfriend!