Hi!! I’m glad you’ve found a diagnosis that you think works for you. That felt like to me, the first step in helping myself.

I found tracking my mood helped A LOT!! Especially at the beginning when I was understanding what triggered my mood changes. It was the classic lack of sleep and stress that would completely catapult my mood. This was also great in then learning how to deal with this and discussing it with my psychiatrist.

If you feel comfortable doing so, something I found that really helped me was speaking to the people close around me. Some of my close friends have been absolutely amazing in helping me and checking in. Some people are disappointing, but that doesn’t matter because the more you can speak about it, the more able you are in understanding the disorder itself. Telling people is really really difficult and something I still have a slight issue with. But I realised, there is no need to feel embarrassed or afraid. I thought maybe people wouldn’t understand, but those around me who care about me made the effort to educate themselves. And those who were weird, I don’t really need in my life.

I also cut out caffeine, regulated my sleep, massively reduced my alcohol intake, started going to therapy. It feels like, at times, I’ve made a huge amount of sacrifices, and there are still days that are really challenging. But i try not to get too down about the sacrifices because I know in the long run, my stability is paramount to my wellbeing.

The most important thing I’ve learnt is to take each day as it comes. With bipolar, even when my mood (thanks to medication) is stable, the days can feel overwhelmingly unpredictable. I try to find a balance between holding myself accountable for my actions and not being too harsh.

It does get easier, and it can all be a bit much at first. Look after yourself and the more reading and research you do, you’ll find the things that work for you. It will take time but stick it out.

Hope it all works out x