Are you Caught in your own Spider's Web? (Bipolar Boot Camp, Part 3)

Welcome back to the Depression Getaway Bipolar Bootcamp! You've made it this far. We have only just begun. Each week we will run through an essential part of not only surviving bipolar but of improving the quality of your life with bipolar. Don't give up!

This week is a depression drill. Yes, you heard me right, a 'depression drill'.


Bipolar Disorder is made up of two, not just one kind of depression. The atypical kind of bipolar depression is the manic side of depression and we will deal with that next time.

The typical kind of bipolar depression is the one most people know about and that is the one we are going to drill through today.

We need to study 'the enemy' (depression) if we are going to handle the enemy and defeat him. If we can't recognize him how can we deal with him? Right?

So, here is our depression drill. Let's remind ourselves just what symptoms are related with depression so we don't mistake those symptoms for something else.

I am taking this list from The Mayo Clinic website.

Depression symptoms include:

• Feelings of sadness or unhappiness
• Irritability or frustration, even over small matters
• Loss of interest or pleasure in normal activities
• Reduced sex drive
• Insomnia or excessive sleeping
• Changes in appetite — depression often causes decreased appetite and weight loss, but in some people it causes increased cravings for food and weight gain
• Agitation or restlessness — for example, pacing, hand-wringing or an inability to sit still
• Irritability or angry outbursts
• Slowed thinking, speaking or body movements
• Indecisiveness, distractibility and decreased concentration
• Fatigue, tiredness and loss of energy — even small tasks may seem to require a lot of effort
• Feelings of worthlessness or guilt, fixating on past failures or blaming yourself when things aren't going right
• Trouble thinking, concentrating, making decisions and remembering things
• Frequent thoughts of death, dying or suicide
• Crying spells for no apparent reason
• Unexplained physical problems, such as back pain or headaches

Sound all too familiar? Why are we reviewing something you are already so familiar with? Because sometimes we can experience these symptoms and forget that they are part of an illness, not part of our personality, or a reaction to circumstances.

Okay, now what I am going to suggest next may not sit well with you.

What do you do when you experience any one of these symptoms? In other words, what is your response to each of these symptoms of a depressive episode.

Let me tell you about one of mine. When I begin to realize that some of the symptoms I am experiencing are a depression coming on, I often go to bed. I rest. I watch a bit of TV. I retreat from people and most of my activities. Not for long. Sometimes I only need to 'retreat' for a day or two or three, but it seems to help me, sometimes.

However, here is something I learned recently when I did a COST/BENEFIT analysis of my reaction to those symptoms:sometimes our responses are not good for us but they are bad for us, actually causing more harm than good.

What does that choice to rest cost me? I get nothing done, I feel even more isolated, I feel unproductive, I feel even more like a failure.

What is the benefit of that choice (to rest)? I get a rest. I may even improve my perspective. By resting I can regain my positive attitude...in time.

Too much resting could be a spider web of my own creation that I get caught in.

Do you sort of get that?

The only way you will be able to grasp this concept is to take this list of depression symptoms, and beside each one, note how you respond to that particular symptom.

Then take your response, and analyze it with a cost/benefit analysis of your own. This is a really worthwhile exercise.

Improving your life with bipolar is going to be hard work. Boot camp is hard work. But do you want the quality of your life to improve?

WHAT ABOUT YOU? How are you feeling today? How much of life has mental illness robbed from you? What have you got to lose by doing this little bit of homework? You may just have something to gain.

It's your life, and you are worth it.

Don't give up! There is hope for depression.