Bipolar Disorder Triggers – 5 Things You Need to Avoid to Help Keep Your Moods Stable

Bipolar disorder is a psychiatric condition that is characterized by alternating bouts of mania and depression. People who have bipolar disorders often experience a cyclic change in their energy levels and feelings; ranging from sudden bursts of liveliness and happiness to unprovoked episodes of weakness and sadness. In extreme cases, bipolar disorders manifest psychotic symptoms of delusion and hallucination. This will later on lead to progressive deterioration of the conscious psyche and end up with a person’s derailment from reality. Nevertheless, bipolar disorder is a controllable condition. Further aggravation of the mental state may be avoided given the proper precautions

1.) Cut down on caffeine intake. Caffeine is a stimulant. Without proper regulation, it will tip off the balance in your mood and physical processes. It will make it difficult for you to sleep at night, and consequently make you more emotionally and mentally labile. Chocolate, chocolate byproducts, coffee, tea, sodas, colas, and energy drinks all contain caffeine. There are some pastries too that have high levels of caffeine in them. Try to minimize your consumption of these fares.

2.) Keep healthy and well-balanced interpersonal relationships. Nothing can stimulate this mood disorder better than a fiery argument. Suicidal ideations often come about after heated discussions and disappointing experiences. So make sure to keep things light between your friends, family and loved ones. Don’t be too serious about things; otherwise, you’ll loose touch on how to handle failure. Look out for yourself more. If you think the people you’re with are no good for your health, then might as well stay away. Be with those who understand your condition and are able to accept your varying temperament.

3.) Stay calm. If you easily get frustrated over trivial things, then you will more likely experience a greater number of mood shifts per day than if you’re not. So my advice is to stay calm and collected. If troubles come your way, pause for a moment and breath. Don’t react right away. Give your mind time to think things over. The mood instability caused by bipolar disorder may prompt you to hurt people when you are irritated or angry. So you must endeavor to stay composed all of the time. The last thing you want is a lawsuit on your hands. It might be difficult at first. But if you make a habit to delay negative reaction, then you will get to control your mood swings.

4.) Be prepared for surprises. There are several environmental factors that can trigger bipolar disorders. Time, weather, people, places, insects; I mean, the list goes on and on. And these are things you cannot control. So learn to accept whatever comes your way and be prepared for the world’s surprises. Like when you are on the road and traveling, don’t be bothered if your car breaks down, or if there are no restrooms on the way. Mentally and emotionally condition yourself before you embark on potentially stressful situations and you’ll feel more relieved and relaxed knowing that it’s all out of your control, and all you can do about it is adapt.

5.) This last guideline is applicable for friends and relatives of people with bipolar disorder. Don’t get caught in a bad conversation. When in a depressive episode, people afflicted with bipolar disorder will consistently argue that they are misunderstood, or that their life has no purpose, or that the world is unfair, so on and so forth. As someone who is concerned, all you can do as of the moment is to hear out their complaints. Listening is the most therapeutic way to go about the conversation. Do not argue, for your sake and for your loved one’s sake. Now, if you think that it is leading to a bad place, then directly talk to the person about his or her condition and explain how it is making him or her feel that way. Stop trying to achieve normalcy. With bipolar disorder, you have to handle a person extra specially and extra carefully.