Bipolar Disorder Support Group

Bipolar disorder is not just a single disorder, but a category of mood disorders marked by periods of abnormally high energy and euphoria, often accompanied by bouts of clinical depression. This is the place to talk about your experience with bipolar disorder, learn from others' experiences, and find support.

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putting the 'stuff' to rest

malibumark
malibumark

I just went out for coffee at Starbucks. When the prospect of interacting with people


arises it tends to raise my anxiety a bit but I like coffee and I like going out - and I like


interacting with people more than I don't. So anyways I went I got my coffee and when


I asked for my coffee (I know this may sound weird, bizarre ..whatever) I tend to wonder


if it's all 'ok.' I got my coffee from the nice lady and slowly I noticed I started to obsess on the details


of the interchange between me and the lady - and even though it was more of just a habit and not so much about


substance.. I kind of noticed that I was thinking about it - and starting to get all woefull about it. I finally thought


to myself that "This was just about the nature of the illness" and I dropped it. It's something that I can know happens


and I dropped the hyper focus. So I feel better. From the lesson of my last post about grounding and living with 'it' hand in hand...that thought served me today.


Anyways going to drink my coffee. Peace and have a good day!



Mark

mlr0853
mlr0853
Hi Mark...good for you. It's So True what you think creates your mood/behavior. In DBT I've learned about this, you have the event outside the triangle, at the base triangle on left side is the thought about the event, at the top is the emotion and right side bottom is the outcome. What I learned is ....how I think creates the emotion...just pause a bit to stop and catch myself half way to the top....like you did "reframing" your thought to over ride the first thought! In DBT what you did was " Improving the Moment" Understanding the 'myth' which is false... Below is a link to distress tolerance. I've been learning DBT since 2007 when I was last in hospital...what I've learned has been life changing! Glad you were able to enjoy your coffee :)
http://dbtselfhelp.com/html/overview1.html
malibumark
malibumark
thanks mlr!!
Community LeaderSunCloudJD
SunCloudJD
Gentle hug sweetie..... I'm glad you were able to enjoy the coffee.....xo
Imlosingit
Imlosingit
I call that "Editing on the fly".
I haven't been able to catch myself in the moment like that very often. It's an awesome feeling when you can.
Be proud of yourself for being able to do that. Sounds like the grounding activities are helping. This is inspiring for me, I've been struggling with trying to get some kind of routine and structure going.
I've been Hyper focusing on things a lot lately. Maybe, subconsciously, I've been using it to avoid doing the things that i really should be doing. Thanks for your post. And again, way to go!
malibumark
malibumark
thanks Jan, thanks Im!!
arfie
arfie
Accepting things like my social anxiety and obsessing as, "This was just about the nature of the illness" helps me relax and enjoy my coffee more, too. It's raining outside, too. . . Sip.

*Paper clink* Here's to good coffee. . .
malibumark
malibumark
here's to good coffee arfie! 'paper clink!' :)
Imlosingit
Imlosingit
Well, thanks to, "grounding activities" and "hyper focusing" I completed 3 yard projects outside yesterday. Though my body isn't happy that I spent 3 hours doing it. But it helped me see things a bit clearer about the things I do, how I do them, and how others may see them. I may not always get it right, but I can't worry about how every person is going to respond or react to me. It's exhausting. I'll practice on the ones I'll never see again, and work it on the ones that are closest to me.
Good post.
malibumark
malibumark
:)
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