The Christian and His/Her Mental Health: Do you cycle?

If you find yourself cycling between highs (hopefully not of the manic type!) and lows (of depression) maybe I can help you. And if you’ve ever had highs or lows, whether cycling or not, you might benefit from this blog. I’ve been diagnosed as "bipolar II" or BP-II according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-5, or DSM-5 for short. That's overkill for a manual that catalogs all mental disorder types. I guess you could say that I am qualified to address the subject of cycling.

I am (fortunately) not BP-I. My highs are hypo-(under)-manic; I have never gone completely manic. Nevertheless, I have gone so low that I needed to be hospitalized twice, albeit in outpatient programs. Again, you could say that I am qualified to address the subject of cycling.

Here’s the deal. My mood swings between up and down can be thought of as a sine wave. If your eyes are glazing over, stay tuned. I promise to make it simple for you. Think of the seasons. At the equinoxes, the hours of dark and light are equal or 12 hours each. Let’s start with the March equinox. (Ironically, that equinox is just about when I am writing this!). As we move ahead, the hours of light increase to a maximum of 15 hours at the June solstice, the longest day. (This is for my location. Your experience depends upon your latitude.) The amount of light then steadily decreases back to the September equinox (again, 12 hours of each) before decreasing to a minimum of roughly 9 hours of daylight at the December solstice. (Thank God for the bright lights of Christmas!)

One of my first suggestions is that you record your ups and downs in your journal. Yes, you should have a journal. This is one habit that has been hugely beneficial for me. At least give it a try. You don’t have to write a major tome each day. Start small. Then, come up with a rating system that works for you. Since summer light (where I live) is roughly 3 hours up from the spring equinox (15 hours minus 12 hours, or positive 3) and winter light is roughly 3 hours down from the fall equinox (9 hours minus 12 hours, or minus 3), I would use the cycle scale: 0 up to +3 back to 0 and down to -3 and back up to 0, then repeat. In the morning, I look back at the previous day and rate it. Remember, it’s not just 0 or ±3. Sometimes it is +1 or even +0.5. Sometimes it is -2.

What are your “tells” of hypo-(above)-manic behavior? For me it is a decreased need for sleep, sometimes risky behavior (e.g., risky driving), irritability (frustration or impatience with others while driving?), excessive spending (my spouse keeps me on a short spending leash), grandiose thinking, over-talkativeness, etc. Experiencing these to a high degree might warrant a value of +3. But recently, I’ve been peaking in the 0 to +1 range, thank God!

What are your “tells” of depression? If I’m not mistaken, you have a pretty good idea of what these things are. For me it can be sadness, subtle (-1) or profound (-3). Nothing tastes. If you want the psych term for this, it’s called “anhedonia,” “an” for "no" and “hedonia” for "pleasure/happiness." It’s not a good place to be. I can also feel helpless, and sometimes downright hopeless. Such times warrant a -2 or 3. Another “tell” of depression is over-sleeping, at least for me.

Here's a word to the wise. If you spike up (above 3) or the bottom falls out (below -3), talk with your psychiatrist immediately (to see if an adjustment in your meds is in order) and also—I can’t stress this enough—see your talk therapist right away. Nearly all the psychiatric disorders in the DSM-5 respond to talk therapy. Don’t delay.

Well, my time is up. I promised you help for your cycling.  I have thus far, 1) extolled the virtues of journaling, 2) suggested the use of a numerical scale to monitor your mood swings, and 3) suggested that you make a list of your own “tells,” whether for up trends or down trends. In my next blog, I want to set forth a “plan of attack,” what our goals should be to get control of our own mood swing “sine wave.” The first has to do with what’s called “amplitude”—Can I cycle up less, maybe 1 instead of 3, and down less, maybe -1 instead of -2? The second has to do with what’s called “wavelength”—Can the time period between one “bottom” and the next be lengthened? (Optimally, we’d like it to never come back!) The third goal has to do with increasing the amount of time spent at 0. In psych-speak, this is called “euthymia.” The word comes from ancient Greek, where “eu” meant “well” and “thymos” referred to “soul.” Good-soul—it sounds like what we are all seeking.

Well, until next time,

Blessings

The Christian Bipole