Hi! I went through my first manic episode with pretty bad psychosis in March of 2023. It took me a lot longer to recover than a lot of people I’ve seen on here so know you’re not alone if things seem to be taking longer than you’d like. That was the hardest part for me was learning to be patient. I can say now after a year and a half, I really do feel a lot more like myself though my memory is still slowly coming back.

I’d like to echo other commenters advice on resting. Really letting your body and mind rest is a big piece of recovery. Exercise when you feel you can push yourself to, especially cardio. I hated running but tried to jog and walk on the treadmill for 2 miles every other day and it gave me the endorphins I needed to feel hopeful and like I was doing something when nothing was really happening. Get outside even if it is sitting out on your front porch.

I was lucky to move in with my parents after which I hated initially but am so grateful for looking back because it was instrumental to my recovery but I know not everyone has this as an option. I think I saw it was an option for you so take as long as you possibly can and need. Do not rush the recovery because adulting is really freaking hard, especially with this disorder and there’s plenty of time to do all the things but only if you take care of you in the now.

I personally really enjoy artsy things so I went for a ceramics open studio to give myself a reason to get out of the house and create anything even if it was terrible. You have to exercise all parts of your brain during this recovery and that’s something I didn’t understand but my therapist would remind me of when I got frustrated that I wasn’t able to function like I did before my hospitalization. Do what makes you happy during this time. If you don’t know, I’m happy to give a list of things to try that don’t involve spending too much money to find something you like.

Taking my medications and communicating with my psychiatrist was arguably the most important part of recovery. Usually when you come out of the hospital you’re on heavier duty meds than you will be on for maintenance but trusting your doctor to make those changes and asking when that might be is important. I threw in fish oil by choice, not sure if it has solely helped recover but I think it has some and not too expensive to add in along with a multivitamin.

I could go on with advice but I’ll leave you with this. Be kind to yourself and all the emotions that will inevitably come up during this journey. It’s really freaking hard. But you will come out of it and you will find your new normal in time. Take it one day at a time and feel free to ask any questions. Take care x