If you suffer from Bipolar Disorder, what do you do when you are really down to work your way up again?

I am also BiPolar. I have been dealing with the manic depressive moods for since 1996. The first thing you need to do is to make sure you are taking medication that really helps you. I tried many kinds before finding the one that really works for me. I am taking Lamictal . (hardly any side effects at all) I am also on prozac for depression. These two things seem to work very well for me.

You can also do other things to help you cope with the mood swings. Find something you have a great passion for. Get really involved with it. I write poetry, draw, and decorate when I start having mood swings. It helps me vent out my feelings in a creative and healthy way.

One of the most important things you can do is have a support group of others that truly understand Bi-Polar. I found a group online that is wonderful! You can join it by going to:

http://www.revolutionhealth.com/ and signing up.

I self harm also and I've cut down on actually cutting by using a red marker or pen and pretending its a blade. (Crazy I know but I works) and sometimes if I'm really upset instead of cutting ill get a piece of paper and a crayon and just "scribble" on the paper like the papers a person or my arm and the crayons a blade or whatever. As for the anxiety I write in a journal. But only when I'm feeling bad then after I'm done writing I rip it up or crumble it up and throw it away because its like getting rid of your problems. I honestly don't think there is any way to show them its not a phase but to just don't let it affect you. After so long they will figure it out themselves. Phases only last so long. And to stop worrying about everything I don't know. I have the same problem and I just try to "let loose" every once and a while. Like go to a party and dance. Get into a club in your school it gets your mind off if things. I hope this helped! :)

I'm still figuring that out myself, but I can say that I feel for you. I try to keep in mind how many people care about me because I tend to get rather morbid when I'm down. I'm in the midst of a pretty severe depression myself. I'm slowly working on getting a therapist and my doctor is tweaking my meds, but that annoys me further because it's such a slow process.

Hard to say bud, I don't think there is a road to normal, only a path to the end that we gotta deal with our sh*t on the way.

Abilify has been a miracle medication for my depression!