6 EFFECTIVE STRESS RELIEF STRATEGIES FOR MOOD BALANCE IN BIPOLAR DISORDER

A disrupted lifestyle can interfere with mood stability in bipolar disorder. Here’s how to start crafting a calmer life for better symptom control.

When it comes to a bipolar diagnosis, treatment, and symptom management, we often hear references to the “journey” and “process.” Much like the old saying, “the journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step,” recognizing and navigating life with bipolar can be considered a series of small steps — taken daily — toward the destination of mood stability.

Each person’s path toward wellness in general and with bipolar is unique, just as each person’s presentation of symptoms and responses to treatment. The good news is that there’s a lot of overlap, and some practical strategies can be found in common. When life becomes too stressful, mood shifts are more likely.

RELATED: 7 Ways to Manage Stress While Also Managing Bipolar

Here’s what experts and everyday people with bipolar recommend as effective steps to create a calmer, more balanced life and better support stable moods.

1. Recognize Your Mood Triggers

The most common triggers for bipolar mood episodes are disrupted sleep and excess stress. By using a mood tracker or journaling regularly, you can begin to spot and address your own triggers for bipolar symptoms and mood swings.

As with all lifestyle changes, starting small and keeping it doable is important. There’s no need to monitor every aspect of your life all at once. Keep it simple by tracking your sleep quality and quantity, your general stress level, and any symptoms that crop up. In time, you can better tailor your tracking habits as you begin to recognize your own personal triggers — such as certain foods or substances, a lack of exercise, or increased social isolation.

RELATED: How to Be Your Own ‘Bipolar Detective’

When we can see the road bumps on the horizon, we can better plot detours that allow us to keep moving forward. Armed with your own collection of data on moods, symptoms, behaviors, sleep, medication, and more, you can better craft your own path toward wellness.

2. Get Outside in Nature

When it’s caught early, a change of scenery can sometimes help to improve a darkening mood. If you are able to spot early warning signs of an impending depressive episode, you can take small steps to pivot toward a more stable mindset. Before the mood swing saps all of your energy to move, take some time to get outside — ideally in nature — breathe some fresh air, and try to expand your perspective beyond your front door.

Something as seemingly simple as walking to the mailbox and back or taking a brisk walk around the block can sometimes feel impossible when bipolar depression is holding you back. Making sure to step outside and be mindfully aware of your surroundings and the world outside your own mind can sometimes help to shift your thinking in a more positive and hopeful direction.

RELATED: The Science of Hope: Tips for Lifting Bipolar Depression

3. Create a Calming Environment

When a manic episode is on the horizon, everything feels like too much, too fast. Energy levels soar, thoughts spiral out of control, and anything seems possible. For bpHope blogger Julie Whitehead, primary symptoms of mania include “spending sprees, pressured speech, akathisia (the need to move aimlessly), and obsessions that pop out of nowhere.”

She takes many different approaches to managing her mania and hypomania, and one simple step is to enlist the senses and create a calming atmosphere in her home: “I put on calming music. I have a collection of nature music I use to calm my thoughts when in a stressed or manic state of mind,” she says. Consider your other senses as well, and diffuse your favorite scents, snuggle up with a weighted blanket, and dim the lights — whatever works for you!

4. Regularize Your Rest

Sleep disturbances, oddly enough, can be both a primary symptom and a trigger for bipolar mood episodes. Understandably, creating a sustainable routine for falling asleep each night and waking up each morning goes a long way toward preventing future mood swings. bp Magazine columnist Carin Meyer ensures consistent sleep by regularly consulting with her psychiatrist and therapist, bolstering her medication regime, and taking a series of practical steps toward establishing and maintaining a steady sleep schedule.

When seasonal sunlight exposure threatens her sleep with too much or too little daylight, she writes, “My husband tacks a heavy quilt over our bedroom window, mimicking the darkness of winter night. I set a strict sleeping schedule and commit to being indoors by the early evening. And to shield my eyes from any light, I wear my ultraviolet-blocking contact lenses and always have a baseball cap and sunglasses on hand.”

RELATED: Ask the Doctor: Sleep Strategies to Help Your Bipolar Symptoms

5. Breathe Mindfully

Whether it’s the spiraling upward thoughts of hypomania or mania or the downward-dragging thoughts of bipolar depression, it’s easy to get caught up in your mind and forget to breathe. Deep breathing slows our body’s systems to shift them away from “fight-flight-freeze” responses and back into “rest and digest” mode. Regularly taking the time to slow down and take some deep breaths seems like a simple task, and, in some respects, it is. However, remembering to do so in the midst of an anxiety attack can be particularly challenging. This is where we can enlist the power of habit.

If we practice deep breathing on a daily basis, it becomes second nature to call on those calming breaths when our body begins to react to overwhelming thoughts. bpHope blogger Brittney Sibley finds deep breathing to be helpful “when stressed, tired, upset, angry, unfocused, or even irritated.” She recommends the following: “Try deeply inhaling through your nose and exhaling through your mouth in sets of three. This is also a good tool because it requires nothing but reminding yourself to do so in times of sudden distress.”

RELATED: The Role of Yogic Breathing in Helping Your Bipolar Symptoms

6. Embrace Your Creativity

The varied energy levels that come with bipolar mood swings can be particularly tricky to navigate safely. It is not uncommon for people to feel more creative when experiencing hypo/mania. If you have a creative outlet you consistently enjoy (such as painting, writing, or playing an instrument), direct your focus on that particular art. The caveat is to resist the urge to jump from one creative activity to another or to spend an excessive amount of time or money on that activity. Instead, focus your energies on creative pursuits that are also important to you when not manic (even if it is harder to engage in those times).

And, when bipolar depression is on the horizon, create small goals that keep you engaged in that creative endeavor. This can allow you to experience a sense of purpose and achievement in a much more tangible way.

To further enhance the stress relief factor, consider making a concrete goal with your creative pursuit. For example, if you enjoy painting, consider aiming your energy at creating a piece for your home or as a present for a friend. Especially when the seasons change, or your mood darkens, having something beautiful, handmade, and peaceful to enjoy can help calm the stormiest of moods.

Consistency Is Key

Living with bipolar is uniquely challenging, and there are many paths to wellness. Finding what works for you, personally, can feel both rewarding and discouraging, depending on the day. Surrounding yourself with a circle of support and dedicating yourself to persevere through trying times — along with a steady dose of self-compassion — can help ease the burden.

Take heart in knowing that you are not alone. Although there are no quick fixes when it comes to mood episodes and managing bipolar disorder, there are both large and small steps you can take to improve your life in the moment and in the long run. Sometimes, moving forward may feel impossible, but if you stay the course and keep trying to find what works for you, things will get better.

UPDATED: Originally posted October 27, 2022

The post 6 Effective Stress Relief Strategies for Mood Balance in Bipolar Disorder appeared first on bpHope.com.

2024-05-30T14:03:44Z