- Slow down
- With mania and hypomania there are numerous things I do too fast such as:
- Talking
- Writing digital or text messages
- Completing tasks around the house, often starting several projects at once and leaving one or all of them incomplete
- Slowing down my speech, which can become pressured, involves several strategies:
- Making an effort to listen without thinking about what I want to say while the other person is talking
- Instead of responding to someone’s story with a story of my own, ask that person a question so they can talk some more
- Sometimes, when I’m in a group conversation, I tell myself I’m not going to talk until at least three other people have talked
- Having my wife read email drafts and refraining from texting or messaging people unless they message me first
- Eat right
- Sometimes when I’m manic or hypomanic, I forget to eat. When that happens I make an effort to eat at schedule mealtimes
- There is some evidence that eating refined carbohydrates, especially sugar, can have a detrimental effect on the symptoms of bipolar
- Although it’s difficult for me, I try to set a reasonable limit on sweets such as 1 - 3 sweets a week. If it’s really getting out of control, I eliminate sweets from my diet for a set time—say a week or a month
- Exercise
- I won’t get into the details, but running has been hugely effective in managing my manic and hypomanic episodes
- My racing thoughts are free to race during a run, and I cannot over communicate these thoughts with others because I’m, well, running
- A previous post discussed tips for using exercise to manage mania, so if you’re more interested, skip to the end of, “Mania and Hypomania”
In my next post, I’ll write about some things you can do to help a loved one cope with mania. Thanks for reading.
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