ive been diagnosed with a mood disorder called cyclothimia;if any one has this how do you cope?

Question

what are your day to day coping mechinisms?
how do you adjust your life around it?

Answer 1

A persistent instability of mood, involving numerous periods of mild depression and mild elation. This instability usually develops early in adult life and pursues a chronic course, although at times the mood may be normal and stable for months at a time. The mood swings are usually perceived by the individual as being unrelated to life events. The diagnosis is difficult to establish without a prolonged period of observation or an unusually good account of the individual's past behavior. Because the mood swings are relatively mild and the periods of mood elevation may be enjoyable, cyclothymia frequently fails to come to medical attention. In some cases this may be because the mood change, although present, is less prominent than cyclical changes in activity, self-confidence, sociability, or appetitive behavior. If required, age of onset may be specified as early (in late teenage or the twenties) or late.
I would keep a journal, so you will know when your mood starts to shift & write down what works for you.
A therapist might be a good start for you if, you're not already seeing someone, or try a support group. Did they put you any kind of meds.? Did anything precipitate this mood disorder?

Answer 2

My boyfriend has bi polar. I can't tell you any technical stuff like the other people have but I have lived with him for two years and the advice i would give is: please do not stop taking any medication just because you think you feel better, he has done this several times with bad consequences; If he feels angry or violent during an episode he leaves the room and writes down what it is that is making him angry, this really seems to help both me and him; he was out of work for a long while and became very depressed, but now he's working he seems to be less depressed and when an episode does happen, it's not as severe; and also, people take time to adjust, I found it quite hard to live with him for a while but it gets easier and the more informed people are, the better they will be able to deal with the disorder, so make sure your family and friends are aware of what the disorder is and what can happen. Hope this is of some help.

Answer 3

It's Bi polar disorder... They have even come up with a fancy distinction for that?

Amazing...

"The earth is Bi polar." Stephen Wright.

You deal by managing your highs and lows and deliberately teaching yourself to practice realizing your triggers and your symptoms and making an effort to do the exact opposite.

The one thing in life that counteracts one energy... is it's polar opposite.

If you are anxious and sad and you don't want to entertain that. Do the opposite and same goes for overly happy and dangerous or irrational behavior as a result. Do the opposite.

Answer 4

Cyclothymia is like a milder form of bipolar disorder.

Try and learn to recognize your symptoms. That way you can begin to realize early when you are going manic or depressive. In this way you can try to put coping strategies in place before things get too bad.

Try this website

http://www.yorkhumangivens.co.uk/

Answer 5

http://www.healthboards.com/boards/showthread.php?t=42591
prescribed meds and therapy