Seasonal Stressors
Hi, all of you lovely folk! It's that time of year again. Time to celebrate the turn of the seasons, the shift of dayight to dark, and the coming of the cold. [To those of the community in other hemispheres or near the equator, please bear with me. Your needs during this season are just as accute.]
There are many factors that influence how we get through the holiday season, no matter what, if any, our denomination may be.
What I am curious about, oh my experienced gathering of Bipolar experiencers, is how we can help each other get through all of this.
The days change their lightness for dark, or their darkness for light. That affects us, especially those of us who have Seasonal Affects to our disorder. At the very least, it bums everyone out during the daylight shifts regardless. There are so many social gatherings this time of year that put an amazing amount of stressors onto us; to be cheery, or gregarious, or just plain conversational. There are expectations to be fulfilled, or not. There are family pressures.
What I would like to see us chat about is how we deal with all of these pressures. What methods pull us through when all we want to do is pull a warm blanket over our heads? How do we control ourselves from a manic explanation of how Santa convinces the reindeer to fly, or scientifically why the Menorah lasted for 8 nights? How do we manage not to burst into tears when Grandma hugs us, or explain why it's okay when we do?
Are there methods that keep you in balance when the holiday season roars in? Do we stick to a schedule, even when our social calendar fills up? How do we refill our emotional tanks when they run low?
Any and all suggestions on how to positively handle our intense social season are welcome here. Let's assist each other, and remind ourselves what works to pull us through.
Happy Holidays, everyone.
@ladylazarus1971, great post! And a nice starting point for the community discussion ^^
I'd say routine for me, definitely. I think every time I try to bend my own rules a little, like not sleep as much as I should, it immediately affects my brain. And December is such a stressful month, it's easy to lose your carefully constructed balance. Inspired by this insightful post I've been using light therapy lamp every morning and it worked quite well for me until it broke down. Also all the other basics, like eating well, hydrating, moving my body around, etc.
What is a bit puzzling to me is the fact that I'm usually depressed around this time of year, but for the first time I'm worrying about following into a hypomanic hole. It may seem like a nice change, but I'd prefer very much not to go extreme in either of those ways ^^;
Has anyone noticed some other patterns of their own mood/behaviour around this year?
Best wishes!
@Celaeno I bought a light lamp yesterday, and am waiting impatiently for it to arrive in the mail. It's way past time I tried one of those. This has been a hard yeat to find out for sure that the depressive elements of my Bipolar are seasonally affected for certain.Here's hoping it works! And doesn't break like yours did....
@ladylazarus1971, oh, lovely, keep us posted how it works for you.
I've got my lamp for almost a year now and it still has a valid guarantee, so I hope the shop will repair it soon and send it back. I've been using it around 9-10 am each day for 20-30 mins, while sipping my tea and writing or reading. It was quite a nice, peaceful moment in my daily routine and I quite miss that. Hope the lamp will be beneficial for your lifestyle and mood, too!
Best wishes!
I'm sitting in front of my light lamp right now, thinking about everyone here on Cups. If you're strressed, remember to breathe deeply for a few minutes without any interruptions. If you're busy and overwhelmed, take time for self care and quiet time. If you're lonely, plenty of us will still be checking in to Cups over the next few days. Don't be afraid to reach out for help and company. Listeners, chatrooms, and the Forum will always be here, waiting for you to join.
Also, if you like to reach out to folks via text, and you are really, really struggling, in the US there is a text "warmline" you can use. It's 741 741. No one will pressure you into talking or doing what you don't want to do, and you can drop the conversation at anytime by letting the person know you want to drop the conversation. The US national hotline for emotional crisis is 1'800-273 TALK.
Hang in there, everybody!
I think if people have to spend time with people, family, friends etc that they would not normally spend much time with, or find it difficult for one reason or another to be in their company, its helpful to have realistic expectations, avoid hot topics that could cause conflict, have a back up plan if you need some space, such as arranging for a friend to call, going for a walk, putting on a good film as distraction....make some time for you, whether it be to listen to some good music, to take a relaxing bath, etc.....and remembering that the media hype up about xmas and portray unrealistic expectations that every person has family and is going to have a really good time...the reality for lots of people dont match with the media portrayal....Its important to try and find some comfort, happiness or peace whoever you are and whatever you will be doing, but be kind to yourselves
@dancingRainbow45 Very nicely said. The expectations are at the heart of a lot of this, I think. You are so right.
Happy holidays!
@ladylazarus1971 You too Lazarus, wishing you and everyone else can find a little comfort and happiness for yourselves at this time :)