Bipolar Support Group

I am so discouraged right now! I'm being treated for bipolar but it's a new, new thing. I only started my medication yesterday and have been managing on my own for a while now.

I just joined here today and have posted a little about myself in "personal stories".

Now I have a question for all of you!

What works for you guys when you're stuck in a very serious depression?

I am rapid cycling, type 1 bipolar and my depression hits me very hard. Today I would say I am at about a 2 1/2. That means I am not suicidal/bed ridden/ and angry.

But I am non functional. Haven't cleaned the house for a few days and its making me more depressed (In manic and stable states, I am a meticulous neat freak! My depression is the only time it slips up!)

I have been unable to think, study, go outside. I've been eating, hanging around in bed, playing with my son, and websurfing.

I feel lethargic and tired, and my thinking capacity is along the lines of... receiving but nothing is being sent out. Brain dead!

I also have a 2000 word history paper due on monday and haven't been able to get it started. I normally have shorter periods of depression and it ends up that whatever doesn't get done, the manic that follows makes up for it. Lately it's been that the depression last longer and the manic is shorter, plus the stuff that doesn't get done is piling higher and higher and it's getting harder to manage and keep on top of everything.

That was a yucky run on sentence, sorry!!

I'm just sad and stressed, I think I'm going to have to accept a low or zero grade on this assignment. I'm struggling to focus and can't even seem to form a coherent thought. I've been been keeping up on all the mundane tasks of daily life.

It feels like my mind and body has reached a standstill, yet the world moves around me in sped up motion. I hate when I feel like this, so much gets messed up in such short period of time.

What do you guys do to cope!!!

Depression is awful and I'm very sorry you are going through this. I hope it doesn't last long. Not being able to concentrate is horrible. Especially when you have a paper due. This is very new to you and I'm sure you have had a hard time with all of this for awhile. You will feel better with medications. Once you get on the right ones, stability is near. It's just finding the right ones that work for you. When I am depressed, I feel no motivation whatsoever. I can't clean or anything. I have to force myself. Once I do it, I feel better. The trick is making yourself do it. I hate that shower, but when I get out, I feel so much better. That is my way of coping. Also surround yourself with people. It is good for you and try to get out of the house. Go for a walk or something. I hope this passes soon for you. We are here for you though.

There is a book called " The New Mood Therapy" By Dr. Burns that gives several things you can do to help combat the dark depression you are talking about. One of the things he suggests you do is to make a list of tasks you want to accomplish. Break down large tasks into smaller ones. Once you complete the task, check it off. This is suppose to help you gain a sense of mastery. I have done this and it does work. Also just wanted to remind you that action comes before motivation and almost always will you be more motivated when you get up and do something! Practice opposite action and get up and just do something! I know it is easier said than done but I am not sure what else would work. (((Hugs))) to you and I hope your depression goes away.

In over 20 years of learning to manage my bipolar, I have never encountered a tool that works so fast and effectively as this one:

http://www.mdjunction.com/forums/bipolar-support-forums/ general-support/2811558-depressed-moody-read-this#2811722

This actually spills onto two posts, but this is a good place to start.

There are lots of ways to recover from depression but this deceptively simple technique has impressed me more than all the others.

If you try it, drop me a line. Let me know.

Unfortunately I don't have much useful to say - I usually spend large chunks of every semester depressed, and kind of only manage to make up the work I've put off by becoming hypomanic at the end of the semester (a strategy which kind of failed when I got medicated halfway through this semester and got the depression part without the hypomania) so I clearly don't have the best coping mechanisms. I think what the others said was good - having a to-do list with little tasks on it could be a good way to motivate yourself to do things.

As a short term solution, would it be possible to email the professor and ask for an extension? I hate doing that but sometimes it's necessary and I've gotten a much better reaction than I expected, the few times I've done it. I've still lost a few points for being late, but by coming clean with them and telling them there's no way I'll be able to have it in on time and I need a few extra days (or a week in one case) I was able to get a much lower penalty than it might have been.

Post edited by: hannah122333, at: 06/11/2011 08:33 PM