Mood Monitoring for Bipolar Disorder

So, you have a new bipolar disorder diagnosis; what do you do now? Or perhaps you have known for a while, but you are still looking for the best way to manage it. While the interventions people choose will always be entirely unique to them (heavily influenced by what resources they have access to I may add), one of the most useful tools is completely free and can be done at home. This is of course mood monitoring.

Consistent mood monitoring for bipolar (as well as other mood disorders) is extremely helpful because it gives some insight into the patterns of your mood cycles. Getting to know how you are affected by your depression, mania and hypomania allows you to better recognize when your mood may be changing and plan accordingly. Taking early preventative steps can help to lessen the intensity of mood shifts, which is proven to help decrease some of the negative symptoms and outcomes associated. For example, if I am aware that my mood has been increasing to the point where I am running the risk of being manic, I can reach out to my doctor for a temporary increase in medication. Or, if I can tell that my mood is dropping, I can reach out to friends and family to ask for additional support in the coming weeks. These are just two examples, but again the interventions that work for you will be unique. Sometimes just being aware of the shift is enough to be mindful of how you are interacting and engaging with the world around you. 

But how do you do this? Again, what works for you will be unique. You can keep track on paper, through apps on your phone, in a diary or through spreadsheets on your computer if you want. You can also be as simple or as detailed as you like. For myself, I found it most helpful to write down all of the symptoms I have had while depressed or manic, and I keep track every day of which ones I am experiencing in a chart on my wall. Eventually I learned to recognize patterns in my mood shifts when I reached a certain amount of my symptoms being checked off. Once I started to foresee this, I could easily take measures to support my mental wellbeing. These early interventions are what allowed me to prevent a lot of impulsive and reckless decision making, or from cutting myself off from everyone around me. You will have to find what works best for you, but apps are always an easy place to start. There are many out there with various ways to keep track of how you are feeling, and their visual and convenient nature makes them super easy to use. The apps that have monthly and yearly summaries are particularly helpful in spotting patterns. 

What kind of things can you do once you know how your mood cycles? Interventions will vary person to person, depending mostly on the resources available to them. But even if you do not have access to everything, there are still many things that you can take advantage of. Professional supports such as doctors, counsellors, teachers, group therapy, call centres and online support chats are some options when looking for someone to talk to. Being open with your friends and family about your experience with your mental health also allows them to more effectively support you. Talk with them about what you struggle with in different cycles, and let them know how they can support you through them. Taking medications and/or supplements can also be helpful in regulating the chemicals in your body that play a part in drastic mood shifts (but should always be taken in consult with a health-care practitioner). Healthy eating, regular sleep schedule and exercise are always important, but can be more thoughtfully focused on when feeling dysregulated. There are also behavioural changes you can make when you anticipate feeling depressed or manic, such as increasing or limiting different pleasurable activities. For example, when I know that I am hypomanic I will purposely plan to hang out with my friends in settings that I will not be tempted to over-spend, as this is something I know I struggle with. Lastly, try your best not to feel guilty about what you need. If you are feeling depressed and the only thing you can do to feel a bit better is play music and dance and sing in your room, then let yourself do that. If you are worried about overindulging on a night out, plan to stay in and have friends come over instead. Be honest with yourself of what self-care you need for what mood you are in. 

Mood monitoring is one of the most helpful tools I have learned to use in my bipolar journey, and over time my mood shifts have become less drastic and less frequent. I also worry less about how it could negatively impact my life, because I know that I will be prepared and have a plan in place no matter how I am feeling. And hopefully now you can too.