Understand How You can control Your Mood Swings

In this chapter you will:

[check] Find out what you can do to control your mood swings.

[check] Read about the five steps toward better control of your symptoms.

[check] Learn why medication may not be enough.

[check] Discover how this workbook can help.

Feeling Bipolar?

The word bipolar is usually used to describe a specific type of mood disorder in which people have severe mood swings called major depressive episodes and manic episodes. However, many people use the term bipolar to describe sudden or extreme shifts in mood, attitude, outlook, or behavior that cause problems in relationships or at work, lead to poor coping behaviors such as substance abuse, or result in poor decision making that leads to negative life consequences.

Mood shifts are normal human experiences. They can be reactions to positive or negative events such as successes or losses. They can occur in response to the words and actions of others. They can be driven by biological changes such as alterations in brain chemistry for people with psychiatric disorders, changes in blood sugar for those with diabetes, fluctuation in hormone levels, and physical illness or injury. Mood swings can also be the result of a combination of these forces acting at the same time.

If you have self-awareness, you might notice that you feel full of energy on some days and are tired or unmotivated on other days. These fluctuations are considered normal unless they last too long, interfere with your ability to function normally, are accompanied by other physical and mental symptoms, or cause you a great deal of discomfort or distress.

Your mood swings may be noticeable to other people. You might have had the experience of friends or family members telling you that you are "acting bipolar," are "moody" or "unpredictable," have "multiple personalities," or just seem to be a different person depending on the day, the season, or the time of the month. This workbook is intended for people who suffer from these types of mood changes, and the goal is to become more aware of them and to gain as much control over them as possible.

Bipolar Spectrum Disorders

Bipolar I disorder is a psychiatric illness that affects about 1% of Americans. It generally starts in late adolescence or early adulthood and is lifelong once it begins. People who have bipolar I disorder usually experience periods of extreme depression that can last months at a time. They also experience periods of euphoria or extreme irritability that are called manic episodes. During manic episodes a person might have racing thoughts, feel a pressure to keep talking, be unable to sleep, and behave in ways that show poor judgment. Manic episodes can last anywhere from several weeks to several months. During this time, the person's ability to function worsens. Bipolar I disorder is one of the most severe and persistent mental illnesses.

There are other types of mood disorders that resemble bipolar disorder but are not as severe. They may not include experiences with mania, or may seem more like personality characteristics than an illness. Together, these are called bipolar spectrum disorders because they include people with a full range of symptoms on a spectrum from the most severe and chronic to those that share the features of bipolar disorder but occur infrequently and do not impair daily functioning. Chapter 2 will provide more information about these disorders.

While the first edition of this workbook focused specifically on bipolar I disorder, this second edition provides interventions for all types of mood swings on the bipolar spectrum. The exercises address symptoms of major depression and mania, but these strategies can also help to prevent or relieve the symptoms of hypomania, a milder form of mania, as well as mild depression, irritability, and anxiety.

What can You Do about It?

There are many different strategies for controlling your mood swings. If you have a mood disorder such as bipolar I or bipolar II disorder, medication is a key to stabilizing your mood. If you are female and your mood swings are related to your menstrual cycle, your gynecologist may suggest hormones to even out your mood. If you have problems with your thyroid, poorly controlled diabetes, or another type of endocrine problem, your physician can work with you to try to resolve mood symptoms. If medical interventions are not enough or if your mood swings are not the result of a biological problem, you may be able to learn how to control your mood swings by making changes in your reactions, your attitudes, or your life situations.

Take Control of Your Mood

This workbook is designed to guide you through the process of learning what you can do, in addition to taking medication regularly, to control your mood swings. If you make the effort, you can learn to lessen and perhaps avoid severe mood swings as well as symptoms of depression, mania, hypomania, irritability, anger, and anxiety. You can also learn to cope with the many ways your mood symptoms interfere with your life. You can use this workbook on your own, make it part of your individual or group therapy, or work through it with your therapist or doctor. Each chapter offers information, skills, and exercises that can help you learn to cope with your emotions, control negative thinking, minimize physical symptoms, stick with medication treatment, and manage problems of daily life.

If you commit the time to practice and learn each method, this workbook can help you learn more about your mood swings, discover new ways to keep the symptoms from coming back, get more out of treatment, and work toward reaching your goals in life. To accomplish these things, you will need to learn how to do several important things:

1. Understand what is happening to you.

2. Recognize significant mood swings.

3. Not act in ways that make symptoms worse.

4. Reduce your symptoms by adjusting your actions, thoughts, and environment.

5. Strengthen yourself for the future by learning better ways to cope.

The chapters in this book are organized according to these goals. Below is a...