Bipolar Students: Simple Tips To Get Through the School Week

While brainstorming ideas for this week's blog, I kept noticing that all of the tips and suggestions that our doctors and support groups give us throughout our bipolar recovery are repetitive, and can become frustrating to hear over-and-over again. I always think to myself I do those things! I'm trying! but I always seem to find myself stuck in that rut of hopelessness. I try my best to maintain a regular sleep schedule, I exercise, I track my moods... But while in school, I still feel completely overwhelmed and hopeless as if I haven't learned any coping strategies at all (Bipolar Disorder and the Pressure to Get Better).

So this week, I've decided to do something a little different. While waiting to fall asleep the other night, I created a mental list of little things that may seem silly to some, but that I have realized have helped me throughout my time away at school and during tough times --things that a lot of doctors never really think of or mention to students with bipolar disorder.

Students with Bipolar Face Lots of Stress

With lots of things to do and worry about, students with bipolar disorder face a lot of stress during the school year. All that stress can bring you down and completely derail your bipolar recovery and your efforts to do well in school.

Different Ways Bipolar Students Can Prevent Stress

• Create an upbeat playlist of songs that make you feel good. When I'm feeling down and depressed, I try to listen to this playlist, and I am constantly adding to it. A lot of times this is hard for me to do because I'm just not in the mood, but it does help.
• Create a panic space. I had my bed lofted and I created a “panic space” underneath it with my stackable shelves of books and lots and lots of pillows. I would hide out there to read and rest, and it was my own little confined space.
• Keep a drawer of your comfort items. Every once in a while, I would ignore my guilt and go out and buy things that I probably didn't need. I created a drawer in my desk that housed special goodies that I felt that I needed such as special tea bags, cookies brought from home, granola bars, my journal, and pictures. My treats weren't that nutritonal, but they made me feel at home.
• Celebrate personal goals, no matter how small. When you've completed a goal, such as finishing a day's to-do list, celebrate! Go out with a friend, take a nap, or watch your favorite show.
• Treat yourself once a week. On Friday nights, I would go out to the campus Starbucks and buy a frappuccino with whipped cream. That was my treat that I looked forward to at the end of each week. It would always remind me that I had just successfully gotten through another week unscathed.
• Disconnect from the Internet once a week. This may not be practical for most of us, especially during school, but if you're able to do so, do it. Disconnect from your Facebook and Twitter, answer only important emails, phone calls, and text messages, and just take time out for yourself.

What helps you get through the school week? What do you put in your "comfort drawer," or what would you put if you created one?

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