Hi, how\u2019s it going? Hope you are doing well.<\/p>\n
I overheard a story once that stuck with me. A young child was talking to his mother. He was trying to understand in his young mind what to feel now that his grandpa had died. His grandpa had been very sick and miserable for a long time. He had a belief system that said that his grandpa was in a better place now.<\/p>\n
So in some ways he felt happy for his grandpa. But in a lot of other ways he felt sad, because now he would have to miss him. He was confused by the fact that he felt happy and sad at the same time. Up until that point he thought that he could only feel one or the other at a time. But not that day.<\/p>\n
This is kind of what a mixed mood is like, only a little more extreme. With a mixed mood, it\u2019s not just a couple of emotions that are being mixed at the same time. It\u2019s everything about your mood.<\/p>\n
With a mixed mood, you can be experiencing extreme highs and extreme lows at the same time. Have you ever felt manic and depressed all at once before? If you have, then you\u2019ve experienced a mixed mood.<\/p>\n
Maybe you\u2019re the supporter, and you\u2019ve been confused by the mix of symptoms you see in your loved one. They are sleeping most of the day, but when they do wake up they have manic energy. They are excited easily and talking a hundred miles an hour, but they are feeling negative overall and may even be suicidal. They can\u2019t control how they spend their money or who they sleep with, but they don\u2019t have the energy to get up to do simple chores.<\/p>\n
This doesn\u2019t even make sense. Well, guess what? It doesn\u2019t make sense to them, either! This is the weirdest part of bipolar disorder. As if depression and mania weren\u2019t confusing enough when they were separate!<\/p>\n
But, for many people who have bipolar disorder, this is a part of life. Some even deal with mixed moods all the time. Those people are particularly hard to diagnose, because they don\u2019t show the usual mood swings that are common to bipolar disorder. They don\u2019t have to show mood swings, though \u2013 they have all the moods right there!<\/p>\n
One of the hardest parts about dealing with mixed moods is figuring out which part to treat first. There\u2019s only one right answer to this. Can you guess it? Both! If you just treat the depression first and ignore the mania, then it may start uncontrollable mood swings. The same thing can happen if you just treat the mania and ignore the depression.<\/p>\n
Another hard part to dealing with mixed moods is even recognizing what they are to begin with. That\u2019s why it\u2019s important to keep a good mood chart that charts your symptoms, and not just your \u201coverall mood.\u201d You should be charting things like irritability, hours of sleep, emotions, self-control, and anxiety. This will help you recognize when your mood has shifted to a mixed mood.<\/p>\n
When you do determine that you are in a mixed mood, you should tell your treatment team immediately, including your psychiatrist and your therapist. Your medications or therapy may need to be adjusted, and you may need to look into different coping techniques than the ones you have been using.<\/p>\n
Mixed moods are difficult to deal with, mostly because they are so confusing. Hope this cleared it up a little bit for you.<\/p>\n
Well, I have to go!<\/p>\n
Your Friend,<\/p>\n
Dave<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Hi, how\u2019s it going? Hope you are doing well.<\/p>\n
I overheard a story once that stuck with me. A young child was talking to his mother. He was trying to understand in his young mind what to feel now that his grandpa had died. His grandpa had been very sick and miserable for a long time. He had a belief system that said that his grandpa was in a better place now.<\/p>\n
So in some ways he felt happy for his grandpa.<\/p>\n