I can't fight this feeling anymore. I've forgotten what I started fighting for.

And if I have to crawl upon the floor, come crashing through your door. Baby, I can't fight this feeling anymore.

Sorry I'm not sorry for getting this song stuck in your head.  But since we learned so much about identifying and owning our feelings last week, today we are going to jump right back in and feel some more emotions. GET EXCITED.

If I could name one mental illness I have learned most about through clinical experiences at the hospital, it would hands down be bipolar disorder. You can only read about bipolar characteristics so much in books, but witnessing a manic or depressive episode and the swings between in person is on an entirely different level. As I started leading groups and realized how chaotic a room full of people experiencing manic episodes can truly be, I decided to educate myself on what to do!

So the overall goal of treatment for bipolar disorder and really for anybody is to maintain a baseline of moods and emotions. This obviously is incredibly difficult for anybody with a diagnosis of bipolar disorder. So what can we realistically do to combat or alleviate these mood swings?

Self awareness, my friends, seems to be the key to everything. After hearing the many stories of my patients with mood regulation issues, each individual with bipolar disorder is unique. Their manic and depressive episodes can look quite different and display unique symptoms. So, if anything is possible during my limited time with my patients, it is to encourage them to develop a better understanding of how their moods change and what that looks like. 

For example, when during the day am I most likely to feel depressed or sad? What am I doing or who am I around when I happen to feel alone or lonely? Am I alert enough in the morning to get out of bed or go to work or take care of my kids? Often times, even I am unaware of my mood changes throughout the day. But understanding what factors may affect our moods can be incredibly helpful in regulating them.

So here is my super cool helpful mood chart. You write down your mood throughout the day, potentially adding in what you were doing, where you were, or what may have caused a mood change, in order to promote greater awareness. And once you fill it out, I would encourage the individual to find commonalities such as, "Oh, I seem to have a tendency to feel depressed in the evening when I am with my significant other," and from there behavioral changes can be made in order to alleviate the negative affects. For example in this situation that mean working in some alone time in the evening in order to let off steam if there are issues in the relationship causing added stress.

So there you have it, mood charting! TA-DAH! I would definitely suggest this for more people than just those with bipolar disorder. As I said, even I am sometimes unaware of my mood changes throughout the day. This could be helpful with a person struggling with a multitude of mental health issues, such as depression, anxiety, PTSD, etc. 

I Just Have a Lot of Feelings...

Ever feel like you just have too many feelings? Like you just wanna curl up in bed and eat 7 bowls of Reese's Puffs?

I know, I know. It happens to the best of us.

So often as humans we let our emotions take hold of us. We sometimes let one small issue get in the way of a good day and sometimes even treat people like crap because of it! But before we tackle how to lessen the negative effects of these feelings, we have to learn how to label them and know why the hell we are so freaked out in the first place!

A common technique used in therapy involves encouraging the client to use "I feel" statements. Instead of the oh so common habit of saying "I feel like....," clients are forced to choose a particular adjective, or feeling word to describe what they are currently experiencing. This is incredibly helpful when attempting to create a greater understanding and awareness of our own emotions and what kinds of experiences cause negative emotional reactions.

And HOORAYYY, this goes back to the super fun and abstract idea of mindfulness. How can we learn to be more aware of the present moment and be accepting of ourselves and our feelings? By accepting them, labeling them, and taking control of them! Using feeling words is usually really difficult to get into the habit of using so in the past I have given copies of the "Feeling Wheel" to my clients who struggle with identifying their feelings.

So DO IT, try to have a hang out session with a friend withOUT saying "I feel like..." and instead try using "I feel" statements. I promise it's a lot harder than it sounds, but over time you will create a greater understanding and acceptance of your own feelings. It's okay to be crazy emotional sometimes. In fact, last night I was frustrated with a friend of mine so I stayed at home by myself, ate peanut butter, and watched a Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen movie. We all have those days, I promise. But a resilient person shows their strengths in their ability to continue persevering despite setbacks and continues maintaining hope for the future.

The Life of a Guilt Stricken Mental Health Counselor

The other day one of my patients at the hospital compared been given a mental health diagnosis to developing a criminal record - it follows you forever.

Do I agree with this? WELL YES, I do. I believe mental illness is real, has physiological effects, and requires appropriate treatment. But it doesn't change the fact that I  am incredibly careful to choose the appropriate condition so as to not mislabel the problem.

Unfortunately because of health insurance, each patient who is admitted to the behavioral health center MUST be given a mental health diagnosis of some sort. So naturally when I open a patient's file and see "OCD, generalized anxiety disorder, major depressive disorder, psychosis NOS, and hoarding disorder," I'm like "yup, just another day at work."

.....But then I'm there, ready to break the computer.

Ok, so that was definitely an exaggeration. I've never seen anyone with that many diagnoses. Don't get me wrong, the majority of these particular patients have serious mental health issues which are rightfully identified, yet I take diagnosis quite seriously. Many patients of mine have expressed frustration regarding how one professional will say they have one condition, and another will diagnose something entirely different. Once again, many people have distinct mental illnesses which demands appropriate treatment. However, mislabeling mental illness can have a multitude of negative effects on the individual, including self fulfilling prophecies!

So in light of all this negativity I've been experiencing, I think it's important to keep in mind why diagnoses are useful and important, despite some of their negative implications.

1) Communication between professionals: A mental health diagnosis is a very short way of explaining a wide variety of symptoms experienced. For this reason, diagnoses are extremely useful when one professional is consulting with a new professional working with the individual. Diagnoses provide a short and sweet way of providing a greater understanding of the client.

2) Ease of access to treatment interventions: Mental health diagnoses often allow individuals to receive a variety of potential treatment strategies though insurance at a discounted price or even free of charge! MO' MONEY, MO' PROBLEMS.

3) Externalizing the issue: Diagnoses also serve as a therapeutic technique in externalizing an individuals struggles. An example would be saying "It's not me, its the bipolar disorder." So often people experiencing mental health issues internalize their condition and may somehow think they are incomplete or screwed up. Diagnosis is useful way to externalize the problem and allow the client to take control over their condition through treatment.

So there you have it! Diagnoses aren't all that bad! I'll agree, it isn't perfect...but for now all I can do is be sure to continue taking diagnoses seriously and keep my clients' best interests in mind.