I recently read something by Kay Jamison, a famous expert on bipolar disorder. She suggested charting mood.
What a great idea I though. Her argument really was rather compelling. By doing so I would be able to see trends in my moods, predict my next cycle, and so on.
But quickly reality set in. I can not do this, at least not by myself. And when I am finally stable enough to remember to do such a thing every day (not to mention at the same time each day), then I suppose I will no longer need to chart anyway.
Part of success with bipolar (at least for me) is knowing yourself. This attempt to chart mood, would most likely just add to life's daily frustrations. Not to mention, creating the chart, would be a whole other issue.
I think I would like to someday chart my mood, but not today.
Has anyone been successful with mood charting? What did you learn about your bipolar?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
3 comments:
I chart my moods... I started with these charts:
http://www.cci.health.wa.gov.au/docs/WS-Mood%20Monitoring.pdf
http://www.cci.health.wa.gov.au/docs/WS-Symptom%20Monitoring-bipolar.pdf
To begin with, it was my therapist who made me chart... but now I chart for her, and for me.
I can be really really hard on myself, and it helps me to be able to say, oh, yesterday was a -3, so it was good that I managed to get to work, I won't worry about how much I actually achieved there...
The charts are also useful because when I get stuck in the middle of a particularly bad depressive period, they're there to remind me that I never stay that low forever!
I find it extremely helpful. I do it last thing before I go to bed on an big calendar that sits next to my bed. I track my mood (I give it a rating out of ten--don't bother listing mania or depression, just how good it was) when I got up, what time I'm going to bed, if I talked to friends, how much exercise, and if anything happened that day. I tend to isolate when things are going badly, so this is a way for me to tell how socially connected I am.
I use an apple calendar. Overpriced, yes, but the paper's heavy weight, and I get to pick the images. As I do a fair amount of art, it's happy to be reminded of the things I do well.
I find it very reassuring and have been tracking it for the last 6 months. I've tried in the past, not so successfully, but the lack of info was itself an indication that all was not well. It also means that I can go to the psychiatrist armed with some actual data, as opposed to "I think I've been doing badly"
Anyway I hope it helps. There are electronic ways of recording mood, that people I know use. Moodtracker.com etc. To each their own. I think it's very worthwhile if you can get into the habit. It also means I have a record of every interesting thing I've gotten up to in the last year. "saw x" "talked to y" little stuff--but I can fill in the blanks. Sometimes I write in my journal, so I can cross reference if I'm interested in looking back.
I was diagnosed 3 years ago with Bipolar I and I'm about to turn 24 next week.
I wish you the best of luck,
Seana
I do---every day for a year. More information is when I don't chart (I've made attempts in the past) I have a wall calendar, and I rate my mood every evening before going to bed, right after I take my meds. I track when I get up, when I go to bed, and If I've talked to close friends or family, as I tend to isolate when I'm starting to do poorly. I've found it very very effective, mostly because it reassures me that everything's on track, and if it goes off track, I will be able to trace its course. I'm aiming for habit. that said--i was supposed to be in bed 2 hrs ago--so it doesn't "make me" do anything, it just makes more more aware of my choices. Sleep is a huge predictor of mood, for me at least. best of luck with things.
Post a Comment