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

If you cycle like me, I'm writing blogs that may be helpful. It can be scary when you bounce back and forth between "poles," hence the label, "bipolar." But whether or not you are BP, these blogs should help with your mood swings.

In the prior blog, I have 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. With regard to a numerical scale, I suggested a 0 to +3 to 0 to -3 and back to 0 "sine wave." Each morning, I look back over the prior day and rate it, whether "up," any number greater than 0, or "down", any number less than 0. By doing this in my daily journal (yes, you need to journal!), I can look back and even chart my moods with time.

In this 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.” Let me explain. The first goal has to do with “amplitude." Can I cycle less up, maybe 1 instead of 3, and down less, maybe -1 instead of -3? The second goal 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 “good or well” and “thymos” referred to “soul.” Good-soul—it sounds like what we are all seeking.

For me, the main factor that has lowered my highs and raised my lows is medication. I can't stress enough your partnership with your psychiatrist. And I cannot stress enough the practice of "compliance." That means taking your mediations as-prescribed. There are two enemies of compliance. The first is hypomania. When we feel great, the temptation is to stop the medication(s). This is a recipe for disaster. Don't succumb to it! The second is forgetfulness. I have a bad practice of forgetting to take my meds. Yes, I know to set alarms on my phone for when I need to take each specific medication (this practice is highly recommended!), but like sleeping through a wake-up alarm, I am prone to dismiss and then ignore a pill-alarm. Several things help here: 1) Talking with myself each time (why is that alarm going off?), 2) enabling my spouse to ask, "Did you take those meds?" and 3) pulling the pill pack out of my pocket and holding it in my hand until I have taken the pills in question.

A second factor in decreasing my mood-swing "amplitude" is structure. By structure, I mean maintaining my daily routine. This includes sleep, maintaining my sleep regimen (bedtime, up-time). This can be hard at my highs (less need for sleep) and also at my lows (tendency to over-sleep). My structure also includes exercise. I swim a half mile twice a week and workout at the gym once a week. The other days, I try to do 30 minutes of aerobic exercise. For example, I walk the neighborhood or walk the treadmill. I find that consistent exercise is a key to helping me sleep better.

A third factor in controlling mood swing amplitude is mindfulness, or rather the Christian version of "mind-full-ness." (Mindfulness from Eastern religion involves emptying your mind; mind-full-ness involves just the opposite, filling your mind with distracting good stuff, for example Bible verses put to memory and ready for you to meditate on.) When I am down, I tend to be anxious. I will often sit in my "meditation chair" and practice the following breathing exercise. As I inhale deeply, I slowly raise a hand (palm down) above my head and say the key word, "ruach," which means "spirit" or rather "Spirit." Then I deeply exhale, and as I do I slowly press my hand downward while saying the key word, "nuach," which means "to rest or settle down" in Hebrew. It's as if I am compressing my anxiety, thereby reducing its amplitude, while replacing it with the Holy Spirit.

I'll stop now with these three "factors" to help control mood swing "amplitude." Next time, I will address factors that can increase mood swing "wavelength," the amount of time between one trough and the next.

Blessings,

The Christian Bipole