Bi Polar- for the person with BPD (Part 4)
The first question for you to answer is: Do you think you have BPD”? The next question to ask is: “If you think you do have the disorder, how important is it for you to work on dealing with your BPD?” The reason we want to start here is that it will take a lot of work be able to relate effectively to the disorder.
The common wisdom is that to manage the disorder medication is strongly advised. The literature mentions that mood stabilizing drugs are a corner stone of treatment. One of the great dangers is that there is an elevated risk of suicide especially during depressive episodes. To find out more information about this part of the treatment a psychiatrist should be consulted.
There is an important role for other professionals as well, such as: Psychologists, Social Workers, and Licensed Professional Counselors. In the following entries in the next two blogs I will discuss interventions that can help with successful management of BPD.
A Place to Start Journaling: Writing your way to health
Identify your specific symptoms. What are the early warning signs? Do they happen in particular situations, at certain times? To do this it is very helpful to keep a journal. Here is an excellent place where you can use the help of people who are close to you. Think about who you trust and respect. Ask that person(s) to help you with your journal. Talk with them about helping you to answer the questions just mentioned.
To deal effectively with BPD we have to take a three pronged approach; they need to relate to the depressive and manic sides of the disorder, as to the universal symptoms that apply for both sides of the bi polarity.
Some signs of depression:
- Not wanting to be around other people (assuming that that is not a usual pattern)
- Thinking “What’s the point”
- Everything seems boring
- Low or no sexual desire
- No goals or direction
- Feeling unloved
Subtle signs of manic behavior
- Sudden bursts of anger
- Racing thoughts
- Unusual spending
- Decreased Need for Sleep
- More aggressive
- Excessive impulsive behavior
Universal signs
- Strong need for addictive substances
- Bad sleeping patterns
- Change in eating patterns
Emotional Self Regulation
To effectively manage you need to learn
Emotion-regulation skills: Learning how to change
emotions so that emotions that hurt are replaced by
the emotions that give you relief and a positive quality of life more.
This process involves how you learn relate to your body being in a state of high tension as well as being aware and learning how to deal with the words in your head when you talk to your self.
Depression vs Hopefulness
There are two parts to this process:
Part I Awareness of self talk
The idea here is to become aware of what you are telling yourself to make yourself feel hopeless and then begin to notice how you need to answer them. Sometimes folks can do this on their own often though it is more complicated and it is necessary to have a trained professional to walk you through the process.
Part II Awareness of body sensations.
Feelings are not only emotions in our mind but they are also physical sensations in our bodies that send messages to our brains that we having a certain feeling (i.e. sadness, hopelessness). By tracking the sensations in our body we can develop a strategy to relate to those sensations. To name a just a few possibilities physical workouts, self talk, guided imagery, or relaxation exercises