Bay 12 Games Forum
Finally... => Life Advice => Topic started by: Trapezohedron on January 04, 2016, 08:37:04 pm
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(http://amyglenn.com/images/sratc.gif)
For those familiar with economics, here's a visual representation of my depression swings.
Suppose I am depressed again, and I'm at SRATC1, I'll end up being happy again somewhere, then I'll enter SRATC3, which due to the LRATC, is tangibly lower than everything else. If at the peaks of SRATC1 I am euphoric, at SRATC3 I have some kind of epiphany in which I don't feel as good, but still that life is worth living, and then it dips, lower than SRATC1 even. What I'm saying is that, I get more depressed. Now, imagine instead of this curve just going up at SRATC4, it goes all the way down to SRATC8, at which point some kind of very hard realization hits me and I become VERY suicidal.
And then, it goes up again at SRATC8 to SRATC16, where I become happy again.
For those not familiar with what I've said, my depression is cyclical; and tends to have worse dips than previous depression cycles ago. Only upon the realization of an important thing will it curve back upwards in the long run, and I really hate feeling bipolarly depressed.
So, how do I deal with this, non-medically preferred.
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Welcome to the boat, only got the proper diagnosis for myself made this (wait, no, last) year, after over six years suffering with it. Still haven't found the proper medication combination for myself though.
No hypomanic/manic episodies actually put you in the recurring depression category, perhaps with seasonality involved. The DSM likes to over-complicate stuff, but pretty much bipolar I, bipolar II, recurring or seasonal depression and cyclothymia itself are all manifestations of one previous entity (pre DSM III stuff), the manic-depressive illness. Ye olde psychiatrist got that part right apparently.
Main importance on its diagnosis is the cyclical nature of episodes, family distribution, the presence of atypical symptoms and age of onset. If you consider this approach a lot of "major depressions" that DSM IV/V employ are actually manic-depressive illness, specially among young people. The concept is sound and in my practice I've had enough mishaps of not trusting the alert signs for MDI.
Medication ends up becoming essential to the disease as it's not just "sedatives" to avoid feeling stuff or getting manic, mood stabilizers are actually brain tissue-saving drugs as bipolar disorder causes long term brain tissue loss. Of course they are tricky to manage as they have side effects, weight gain, etc etc etc.
On the non pharmacological approach, best recommendations I can give is establishing a routine for sleep and other activities, mood is cyclical and is attached to the other cycles of our body, such as sleep and awake. So if you tune up one of them the others might get organized. Another psychotherapy also can help with dealing with outside stress factors.
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I agree with Djohaal. Also, take up gardening. Growing your own food is rather healthy.
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Stress management, avoid drugs and alcohol, get regular exercise and a supportive social circle. Don't be afraid to ask for medical help when you feel like you're going askew.