What do you do when life gets you down

[Edwardo Piet]

Eight weeks? That's brutal. I myself never had to do a stretch longer than twelve days.

So, what do you do to help prevent episodes?

My illness seems to be getting less severe generally over time. I may have several episodes in the future, but if I do I bet they are much milder. I may have only a few, I may have a couple or I may never have another episode again.

I learn a lot about my own emotions from recovering from an episode. I'm not saying that that necessarily applies to everyone with my illness though.

Also, if I were to never or rarely get ill again, I probably still need to stay on meds for that. And at least for now it's certainly the best option. I probably shall have to stay on meds my whole life.

To prevent episodes the best I can do is check for "warning signs" and the more episodes I have the more familiar I become with what those warning signs are. Also, other people I know such as my family can help recognize any warning signs I may be experiencing.

Then, obviously, if there are warning signs, go see part of my mental health team about it and if necessary get further treatment.

By the way, along with my bipolar affective disorder (bipolar type 1) I also have internalized OCD, I have obsessions and they cause me to have compulsive thoughts that repeat over and over and over and over and over and over to such an annoying extent that it provokes quite bad anxiety in me at times. I also have 4 second or under memory problems, spacial memory problems, visual memory problems - and visual co-ordination problems when it comes to getting places in the real world.