Adjusting

Depending on how bad I'm feeling on a given day, these are the adjustments I have found necessary in order to live well with bipolar disorder:

1. Water: I have a glass of ice water or a nice cold water bottle with me everywhere I go. One of the medications I'm on, Lithium, makes me unendingly thirsty. It's just better to drink a lot than it is to sit there being thirsty--safer, too!

2. Boycotting the outdoors: I mostly do not go outside anymore, unless there is a very compelling reason. I tried to go for a walk yesterday and came home very quickly. My mother, who is also my psychiatrist until I go back to school, asked what happened. I said, "The cars are big...and go whoosh..." Outdoors is just too overwhelming right now.

3. Sleep: Yeah. I haven't slept through the night in a week. Because of this, I get very tired around eight pm. So you guessed it, I go to sleep every night around eight pm. Hopefully I'll be sleeping by the time I go back to school, because that arrangement will not work there.

Bipolar disorder cannot steal my life; it can only rearrange it.

Sarah