Manic Depression, Medications , Healthy Lifestyle
Managing your manic depression means more than just taking your medications as prescribed. It means following a healthy lifestyle every day. This can be a challenge when you're suffering with manic depression, but according to Dr. Michael E. Thase, professor of psychiatry at the University Of Pittsburgh School Of Medicine, it's well worth the effort.
It's tempting for the person with manic depression to believe that she or he has a disorder that "comes and goes." It's not uncommon for an individual with manic depression to acknowledge the disorder during an episode. Once the episode has passed, though, they believe they no longer need to take their medications.
According to one medical specialist, those who treat their manic depression in this manner, very often view their medications like antibiotics. Once the prescription bottle is empty it must mean that the problem has cleared up.
Instead, medications for manic depression should be viewed more like the insulin the diabetics take - an aid that is needed daily.
A large portion of successfully managing manic depression, though, is simply becoming knowledgeable in just how important taking control of your lifestyle really is. For any individual with manic depression it's important that he or she eat healthy foods, watch closely his or her intake of not only alcohol, but caffeine as well and avoid participating in recreational drug use.
More than that, though, Dr. Thase explains, are small triggers for the person with manic depression. For example, he said, a person who suffers with manic depression shouldn't exercise too late in the day, even though exercise is part of a healthy lifestyle. This could be over stimulating for a person with manic depression and disrupt his sleeping patterns.
Dr. Thase puts sleep at the cornerstone of any healthy lifestyle for those with manic depression. If you normally, need seven or eight hours of sleep, he tells individuals with manic depression, "get it. If it's nine hours [of sleep you need], get nine."
If you're experiencing difficulty in keeping these healthy habits, don't rule out the possibility that this could be a warning sign of impending symptoms of manic depression, Dr. Thase additionally explains. This is especially true when it comes to sleep.
Not only does the individual with manic depression needs to be aware of this trend, but his friends, relatives and other caregivers should be alert to this possibility as well. For those who surround the individual with manic depression, it's much easier to think that once a person has been diagnosed with manic depression has been given medications and is stabilized, the problem recedes into the background.
Manic depression is a disorder that is constantly battled, not passively treated and then ignored. Medications and a healthy lifestyle are just two weapons in the battle. Manic depression is a complex form of mental illness. Some medical experts consider it one of the most complex of all mental illnesses in fact.
It's difficult to learn about manic depression simply from books or even the internet. Nothing perhaps prepares you for the all-encompassing hold manic depression can have on a person's life. That's precisely why effective management should be all-encompassing as well.
