I tend to have out of control mania, rather than depression which is easily treated with just a couple of a/d s- the a/d s quickly cause mania in fact.
Yes, i have a big care plan and support system if I get sick.
Don't think I am sick- I am sad.
Of course it's also grey and cold and damp....sad weather, unlike our usual tropical sun.
How do you tell the difference between normal mood swings and when your illness is coming back?
the overall pattern- particularly disturbed sleep pattern. There are little indicators personal to each person with bipolar and things likely to trigger illness ( journeys, overwork, stress, lacohol, cold meds etc )
My friends were fun but I wasn't in the mood really.
Work is the only comfort when I'm as Hops says melancholy- and enjoy it if it results in some poetry or a painting....
What the illness does not do which it used to- make it feel like the end of the world! My emotions are so strong, I am developing a sense of when they are out-of-proportion, much like managing a chronic pain condition & intellectualising it. But equally irritating to live with as it still hurts...and it feels somewhat disconnecting to tell yourself too often, 'just a feeling- ignore it.'
Hopefully it'll become something creative, then I won't see it as waste...
Thanks everyone.
~W
