The Element of Recovery & Tips To Keep Bipolar In Remission

Recovery, Not Relapse!

There’s a phrase that really bothers me that I was taught in training for my community support caseworker job. The saying goes, “Recovery is the exception, not the expectation.”

Uh, really? That sounds like we’re just setting someone up to fail who therefore believes they’re going to relapse into an episode and will be spiraling down into madness at some point or another.

I beg to differ.

Granted, mental illness is a life-long diagnosis, but contrary to popular opinion, the cycle of bipolar disorder can be halted.

It’s possible.

Recovery and Remission: What’s the Secret?

So how does one get to a place of wellness with mental illness? It doesn’t happen overnight, that’s for sure. Try the following options to get a grip on your mental illness and put them into practice toward getting your symptoms in remission:

• Seeing a psychiatrist – This is imperative to you discovering what medications may work best for you. Talking to a doctor for psychiatric medicine can be controversial if they’re prescribing controlled substances like Xanax, or just prescribing you a dosage of medication without explaining the implications of that type of medicine. Asking good questions of them like how the medicines interact with others, what the side effects are, and why they think this is the best fit for you at this time are all important points to address. Bipolars need their medicine, and a good doctor can help you find the right ones.
• Talking with a therapist – Therapy goes hand-in-hand with medications. There are different therapists who specialize in different types of therapy, as well as different age groups and demographics. Asking for referrals from friends and examining reviews online can be a helpful way to find counselors. Googling “Christian psychotherapist near me” could be a start. I’ve done this and then called to make sure they take my insurance. If they do, I schedule a new patient appointment and meet with them as often as we agree on. Some may want to see their clients once a week, twice a month, or even once a month if you’re in a maintenance stage. It’s so good to know you have someone in your corner who will challenge you and keep you accountable to your mental health goals.
• Taking your medications as prescribed – Sounds like a no brainer, but it’s easy to miss a day, and a day turn into a couple days in the beginning. Set a reminder alarm on your phone if you need and set them in a pill box next to your coffee maker the night before. I keep my pill box in the drawer under my bathroom counter and take it in the morning with my coffee. Remember, if you’ve missed your morning meds, check with your doctor to see if he or she suggests missing them for the rest of the day, or taking them later in the day. Most of the time if I missed by evening, I miss for the day and just take them the following day.
• Surrounding yourself with support – Family is a huge factor in recovery and remission, and maintaining your mental health. If your family isn’t in a position to support your mental health and care about you unconditionally, finding friends or others you can count on who know you and your state of mind in an episode can make all the difference. Even if that means getting a caseworker. You need at least one other person to advocate for you and if you’re in an episode, you usually can’t rely on your own sense to decide what’s best.
• Setting healthy boundaries – In any relationship, it’s good to set clear boundaries with the other person and communicate to them what is or is not okay with you. Likewise, others you are in relationship to should set their own boundaries with you. If they’re family or close friends, they need to learn the symptoms of your mental illness so they can tell whether you’re acting off balance because of the mental illness or if you need to be kept accountable for taking your medicine or getting to your doctor and therapist appointments.
• Living a healthy life – The keys to living in recovery and bipolar being in remission aren’t that difficult to find. What are you passionate about? What do you like to do? What is good for you that you can do to maintain a healthy lifestyle? For myself, I run, eat (relatively) well, work at my day job, form community around me, attend church, contribute to my marriage and household, play a musical instrument, listen to and make music, enjoy my cat, take care of my roles and responsibilities, read my Bible, write in a prayer journal, take naps, and appreciate how far I’ve come. Are you putting your heart into everything you do? Are you prayerfully considering giving back in ways others could benefit? I like to say, every dimension of life is effected and influences the other dimensions. Your physical wellness domain will effect your spiritual, which will effect your mental, emotional, occupational, financial, so on and so forth.

What else do you do to maintain and lead a stable, symptom-free lifestyle? Is your bipolar in remission, and if not, what do you think you could do to get there?

Share your thoughts in the comments.