Hi,<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve been thinking about something I want to talk to you about. Cause you know how I get so many calls and emails about certain subjects, right? And a lot of times that\u2019s where I get my<\/p>\n
topics for my daily emails. So that\u2019s where I got the topic for today\u2019s email.<\/p>\n
So many people have talked to me about messing something up with their treatment plan. Then they don\u2019t know what to do, so many of them just keep messing up.<\/p>\n
One example is getting off their medications, which, I\u2019ll tell you right now is NOT the right thing to do! Or they stop seeing their therapist, and again, that is NOT the right thing to do. Or they start skipping appointments with their other medical professionals, and again \u2013 NOT the right thing to do. They might have started an exercise program but not exercised in awhile because they\u2019re not sticking to their treatment plan. Same thing with eating healthy. They may have started on a diet, decided to eat healthy, but just didn\u2019t stick with it, so they messed up that part of their treatment plan.<\/p>\n
I want to talk about what happens when you do start to mess up some of the parts of your treatment plan, and what you should do. It\u2019s easy, like I just did above, to talk about what you shouldn\u2019t do! So that part is easy. And in most cases, just do the opposite of that.<\/p>\n
So for instance, what should you do if you\u2019ve messed up your medication? You need to start<\/p>\n
taking it again, but here\u2019s the problem. You can\u2019t just start where you were, because depending<\/p>\n
on how long you were off it, you may need to build back up to that. So in that case, you need to go back to your psychiatrist and have him help you get back to where you were.<\/p>\n
If you\u2019ve messed up with your therapist, just make a new appointment, and start going regularly. If they accept you back as a patient, then all is forgiven. If they reject you, you will just have to start over with another therapist. And that\u2019s ok, you can do that. Don\u2019t let that get you down.<\/p>\n
Just don\u2019t let any more time lapse before finding another therapist, because you really do need to<\/p>\n
be in therapy.<\/p>\n
But now let\u2019s say you\u2019ve begun isolating again. Here\u2019s where it gets tricky. People with bipolar<\/p>\n
disorder are very good at isolating. It\u2019s one of the top indicators for having bipolar disorder and one of the top triggers for a bipolar episode.<\/p>\n
Supporters who have loved ones with bipolar disorder watch for this trigger in their loved one.<\/p>\n
But if the person with bipolar disorder has let this slip, has started isolating again, then they are in a dangerous place \u2013 they have obviously let part of their treatment plan get out of control.<\/p>\n
Now they have two choices when confronted with this by their supporter: they can close down, shut out the world, get all depressed, climb into bed, pull the covers over their head, feel sorry for themselves, cry, and go into a depressive episode\u2026 OR\u2026they can accept that even tho they let a PART of their treatment plan get out of control, that the WHOLE treatment plan is still working, and they can still fix it!<\/p>\n
If they are lucky enough to have a supporter who is still sticking by them through this, then they can both work on the problem together.<\/p>\n
First you identify what went wrong. Then you can fix it. It doesn\u2019t have to be something all dramatic and such. It can be something as small as just not sleeping right. But once it\u2019s identified, you can work on it. And it doesn\u2019t have to be so overwhelming that it drives<\/p>\n
your loved one to their bed \u2013 it only has to be faced One Day at a Time.<\/p>\n
Just today. Only today. Work on your treatment plan the best that you can only one day at a time. Just do the best that you can. That\u2019s all anybody is expecting you to do. Nobody is expecting you to be perfect. And they are certainly not expecting you to be perfect overnight!<\/p>\n
Well, I have to go!<\/p>\n
Your Friend,<\/p>\n
Dave<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Hi,<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve been thinking about something I want to talk to you about. Cause you know how I get so many calls and emails about certain subjects, right? And a lot of times that\u2019s where I get my<\/p>\n
topics for my daily emails. So that\u2019s where I got the topic for today\u2019s email.<\/p>\n
So many people have talked to me about messing something up with their treatment plan. Then they don\u2019t know what to do,<\/p>\n