What I Am Doing to Cope
I have a Psychiatrist (Pdoc) that follows my illness with periodic medication evaluations. On previous meds I was taking, I would have to get blood samples taken to check my dosage and check for possible negative side effects.
I have a therapist I talk to weekly.
University of Wisconsin Department of Psychiatry
There are some Bipolar Support Groups in the Madison area that I know I could attend if needed.
I talk to my friends.
Yet, I need to remember to not overwhelm the people in my life that do not quite understand what this illness is all about.
I need to realize that I can experience a wide range of feelings, not just depression or hypomania. I am learning to identify different feelings and what internal or external components created them.
If I'm having a difficult day, or week, it helps to chart my biorhythm to see where I am in my cycles. The principle behind charting biorhythms is that our lives are affected by four known biorhythm cycles: physical, emotional, intellectual and intuitional.