A Little Guide To Bipolar 2

 Hi there,

So here I am telling you a really big thing about me, yes, I have bipolar 2 and through a lot of self care I feel like I can tell you all and write a little bit on how I have worked through it and how I took care of myself. 

DISCLAMER- I am a social work student but please don't take this as gospel this is just a few things that have worker with me but they wont work with anyone. Please if you feel like you are going through mental health trouble seek professional help. 

What my bipolar looks like- stretches of depression that can last for a few month and can become extreme to the point of suicide actions. Then short periods of hypomania resulting in hyper actions, staying up too late, starting projects, and irregular actions. My bipolar can be really scary and its hard to switch from hypomania to depression and I tend to have suicide actions and self harm. 

Things that have helped

Medication- it has taken a while but I have finally found a mixture of medication that help through the waves of emotions and the long stretches of depression. 

Therapy- I have been in therapy for a long time but talk therapy can be really helpful in understanding the minute details of bipolar and what triggers might be for wave changes and just life in general it can be hard for anyone.

Time in little space- I use little space as a part of my self-care. I spend time in my space to relax myself and reduce the stress that can make the bipolar worst. IT can be really challenging to live with bipolar everyday and even with the help of medication it really takes a lot out of me so I use little space as the way of self-care to remind myself I'm important even if the depression is saying I'm not. 

Self-care- this is really important especially for someone with a chronic mental health diagnosis. I will have to live with this forever so I have learned to take time out of my day everyday to work on myself and the things I like.

        Writing

        reading

        coloring/drawing

        self-help books

         bath time 

        cooking or enjoying a meal

        watching silly shows 

        sleeping 

CG support- I received my diagnosis before meeting my CG so I was really open about it. I know telling people can be really scary but it is really important to have people on your side be it your CG or a good friend having people supporting you and loving you can make this so much easier. 

Take care even when it's hard- not just the new-age version of self-care but the general idea = eat, drink water, bath and shower, brush your teeth and spend some time outside. I know when I am on waves it can be challenging to remember to do things to just take care of myself

Learning good coping mechanisms- one of mine is little space but there are millions of ways of coping with things like depression find a few that you like and keep at them to make things a little less challenging 

Take a break- sometimes just taking a break is really important take a moment and just breath it will be really helpful and help you focus on yourself and your needs. 

Do what's best for you- if this means cutting out bad people, napping at noon, eating a special diet, what ever you find helps that doesn't hurt you or someone else just do it, you know what's best for you. 

I know this didn't focus on little stuff but I hope it helped someone. 

Pudding and Pops,

Pannyboi41

Here are some cats to cheer you up