Life is never going to be predictable. However one of the toughest challenges with living with bipolar disorder is coping with times of change, chaos, loss and crisis. We must have the tools and abilities already in place before these events happen, otherwise these events can be very dangerous not only for our mental health, to prevent mania and depression, but also to save our lives.

There is no way for us to plan for these events and see them coming.

Instead of planning for things to happen, we must plan and prepare our response for how we will take care of ourselves when something does happen. Doing so will help us be able to respond to the circumstances we face to the best of our abilities.

Actions to take care of ourselves when life changes on a dime:

Action: Stick To Your Routine and Rituals

No matter what happens, if you have a routine and rituals you use to structure your day, you will have some predictability which promotes stability.

Develop morning routine and rituals:

Note: Your routines and rituals can and should be flexible, but as you design your own routine and rituals also come up with ideas where and how you would like to be flexible and areas you want to keep strong solid boundaries that will support you.

• Wake up in the morning at consistent time that you wake up daily.
• Before getting out of bed create a ritual – ex. taking a moment to focus on what you appreciate in your life, pray, or share positive affirmations with yourself; playing with you dogs; noticing how your body is feeling; deep breathing; listening to enjoyable music; visualizing your day etc
• Decide what comes next on a daily basis when you get out of bed and prioritize it in the order that you will do it. Ex. brushing your teeth, showering, breakfast, getting dressed, checking email etc, feed your pets etc. However you want to do it.
• Ideally, if you are able to, do some form of exercise at some point in your day wherever you can fit it in on a consistent basis.

Develop bedtime routine and rituals:

• Go to bed each night at a consistent time.
• Try to refrain from doing any work, computer stuff or anything that may engage your mind to want to be very active at least an hour before bed. (This is very hard to do, but very necessary if you want to sleep.)
• Develop a relaxing bedtime ritual that you will do consistently an hour before bedtime. Ex. lighting a candle, relaxing bath or shower, listening to peaceful music, doing peaceful art such as a mandala, meditation, deep breathing, read a book etc
• Try not to have your bedtime ritual be watching TV, even though we all do it, because TV may engage your mind and keep you from sleeping.

Develop Transition routine and rituals:

• When you leave your home on your way to work or school develop a ritual that you will do upon arrival to transition you into work or school mode.
• Examples: Focusing on your breathing, visualizing your day, singing a song, playing a song you love, positive affirmations, prayer, noticing the beauty around you etc.
• Also develop a self-care routine that you will do when you are transitioning from work to home using actions that relax you and allow your work day to end and your alone or family time to begin.

If you develop a routine and rituals and something happens in life that knocks you down, you will still have your routines and rituals available to help you get up.

Action: Develop and Be Aware Of Your Belief System

It does not matter if you are religious, spiritual, agnostic or atheist. It would be in your best interests to develop a belief system that helps guide your understanding of how and why things happen in a way that comforts you and promotes acceptance so that you can depend on it during times of chaos and devastation.

This will not protect you from the pain of your experience. However, it will give you a structure and guidance in which to experience your pain.

This will help you stand up when life knocks you down.

Action: Identify Key People In Your Support System

It is a must to have people in your life who you can count on to be there for you when you need them. Not only should you identify them, but you should contact them and inform them now so they know you will come to them when you need support.

If you don’t have family, friends, support group or therapist in your life who you can count on to be there for you, find them NOW. Do not wait until your life changes on a dime if you want to maintain stability with bipolar disorder.

Action: Be Consistent With Your Medication

No matter what happens, do NOT suddenly stop taking your medication. Doing so could cause potentially dangerous and in some cases lethal effects.

Action: Do NOT rely on Alcohol or any illicit drugs to get you through tough times

Drugs and alcohol only make situations and bipolar disorder worse. They will not help you and they will worsen depression and decrease your quality of sleep.

By having a structure for your pain to exist in it will make the pain more tolerable.