Category: Peer Support

Stress management plays an integral role in maintaining a stable life when you have bipolar disorder. High levels of stress can trigger acute depressive and manic episodes. The frequency and severity of these episodes can be reduced by a lifestyle that is conducive to a lower stress level.  Having a life that is suitable for your tolerance of stress, healthy relationships, a support system, counselling, and other wellness practices can help manage the symptoms of bipolar disorder.

Finding an activity level that is congruent with someone who has bipolar disorder’s tolerance for stress comes from experience. It is only after having multiple episodes can it be determined how sensitive an individual’s bipolar disorder is to stress. Once a pattern emerges, decisions can be made on matters like the capacity to maintain employment or attend school. These decisions can be hard on one’s self esteem, but they may be necessary for long term stability.

When you have bipolar disorder, navigating personal relationships in a positive way can reduce the chances of stress induced acute symptoms. There is no black and white approach that can be used to do this. Using relationship skills is more of an art that takes into consideration the consequences of changing behaviour, one’s sense of duty, power dynamics and the nature of the relationship. Learning about healthy boundaries and other social skills an be helpful. The Canadian Mental Health Association offers free courses online on these topics in their Calgary Recovery College.

You cannot maintain stability without a support network. Psychologist Kelly McGonigal makes the argument that stress is good for us as long as we seek the support of others in her TED talk How to Make Stress Your Friend. While this view may be extreme for people who have bipolar disorder, it illustrates the value of having support. The support of family and friends is essential for people who have bipolar disorder and peer support groups like those offered by OBAD or the DBSA can be life changing.

Counseling can play a significant role in reducing stress. People who have experienced trauma from life experiences or their episodes can benefit from therapy that addresses these issues. Counselling can also help with negative thought patterns, emotional dysregulation, and relationships.  

Mindfulness, a life practice that grounds you in the present moment, and exercise are often recommended as ways to decrease stress. While it is true that incorporating these two things into your life will reduce your stress it may be a challenge to maintain a routine that includes these activities given the constant change in our symptoms. For this reason, I feel it is important to decrease stress in multiple areas of life.

Maintaining a positive life when you have bipolar disorder requires a lot of work. One must be mindful of their symptoms, be an active participant in finding the right medication, and create a life with a manageable level of stress. It takes a long time to build all of this into your life but usually the suffering decreases along the way and the frequency of consistent moments of joy increase.

This will be my last written blog until September 6, 2021. For the next three months, I will be sharing a link to my podcast, “The Bipolar Disorder Moment” where I will be reading excerpts from my book , Brain Betrayal: The Allan They Never Met, every week. My book has not been published yet but hopefully a publisher will pick it up in the near future.

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