Tips For School

School is a stressful environment to every teen, but especially to teens with bipolar disorder. Every day is difficult. Of course each teen is different, and will react differently in different situations, but one thing is the same for all, school is a challenge. But there are things you can do to help yourself through the day. One of the first things you should do is find a "safe room". A place where you can go if your feeling stressed out, overwhelmed, or on the verge of a melt down. Maybe the library, the nurses office, or a teacher that you get along with and understands you. My "safe room" was my art teachers class. I went there if i was stressed out, overwhelmed, or just needed to get away. Sometimes just getting out of the classroom and going somewhere that you like an makes you feel comfortable can mean the difference between a good or bad day. Then after you feel in control again return to class, or stay there until class is over if you know that by returning to that situation you'll just be in the same state you left in. Just knowing that there is somewhere you can go to is helpful. It gives you an out. If you can't go to your "safe room" at that exact moment then try alternatives. Stepping out of the room and getting a drink from the water fountain, or putting your head down on your desk. It's always a good idea to talk to your teachers about how bipolar disorder effects you individually. Tell them what you know sets you off, so they can help prevent potential problems. For instance, my brother gets overwhelmed by large amounts of work. If a teacher gives him a pack of worksheets and tells him its all due on Friday he shuts down and gets in the frame of mind that he can't do it. Even if he has enough time to do it, because he's been given it all at once he's too overwhelmed to work on it. But if the teacher gave him the same amount of work in smaller portions throughout the week he can finish it. The same could work for you. By talking to your teacher and figuring out ways to avoid a breakdown then your day will go much smoother.

Helping yourself

Most people don't understand what bipolar is or what having it means. The people who do are generally the people who have it or a family member of someone who does. They are the people who care the most. Having bipolar disorder is a challenge, especially for teenagers. The teen years are hard enough without problems, and then when you add in things like bipolar disorder, social anxiety, and depression it becomes an even harder challenge. Bipolar disorder affects people differently. Two people with bipolar disorder can have completely different symptoms and some are more severe than others. For example, both me and my brother have bipolar disorder, but it affects us differently. Some things that don't bother me set him off, and vice versa. I have more anxiety problems than him, and he has more irritation problems than me. Everyone is different, but learning and understanding what bipolar disorder is and how it affects you personally is a good way to understand what you can do to help yourself. If you know what bothers you and sets you off then you can try to find a way to deal with it. For example, when I'm upset over something I listen to music to help me calm down. If you have social anxiety, or don't do well in large groups of people you might find that leaving the room and finding a quiet place to wind down will help you deal. Or if you tend to get angry a lot maybe what works for you is to stop and count to ten, or go do something else entirely. Everyone reacts to things differently the key is to find out what helps you personally.

Begining blog

This is my first blog so it might be a little rough, but just bear with me. I want to start this blog so i can put my voice out there, whether it gets heard or not. I'm not completely sure where this blog will go or even if anyone will read it, but it's as much for me as it is for others. I have one bipolar sibling and a bipolar father so i know firsthand that it can be rough not only for yourself, but for others around you also. I think that talking about your problems and hearing that others are going through the same thing is important. When i first heard i had bipolar disorder, and understood what it meant i felt completely alone. Even though i had others there to support me i still felt like nobody understood what i was going through. And not everyone did, but it helped tremendously when i knew that there were others out there going through the same problems and that i wasn't the only one in the world to have bipolar disorder. I want others to hear and know that too. I strongly believe that everyone suffering from bipolar should learn everything they can about there disorder, and educate themselves on there options. So I'll try to put pieces of info. that i think would be helpful and interesting to others in later blogs. I want to hear what others think also so feel free to leave a comment about anything you feel is important. Gotta go now, but I'll try to blog more at a later date, and hopefully get the hang of this.