What lifestyle changes can help with bipolar disorder?

What lifestyle changes can help with bipolar disorder?

Your healthcare team will likely recommend making lifestyle changes to stop patterns of behavior that worsen the symptoms of bipolar disorder. Some of these lifestyle changes include:

• Quit drinking alcohol and/or using recreational drugs and tobacco: It’s essential to quit drinking and using drugs, including tobacco, since they can interfere with medications you may take. They can also worsen bipolar disorder and trigger a mood episode.
• Keep a daily diary or mood chart: Keeping track of your daily thoughts, feelings and behaviors can help you be aware of how well your treatment is working and/or help you identify potential triggers of manic or depressive episodes.
• Maintain a healthy sleep schedule: Bipolar disorder can greatly affect your sleep patterns, and changes in your frequency of sleep can even trigger an episode. Prioritize a routine sleeping schedule, including going to sleep and getting up at the same times every day.
• Exercise: Exercise has been proven to improve mood and mental health in general, so it may help manage your symptoms related to bipolar disorder. Since weight gain is a common side effect of bipolar disorder medications, exercise may also help with weight management.
• Meditation: Meditation has been shown to be effective in improving the depression that’s part of bipolar disorder.
• Manage stress and maintain healthy relationships: Stress and anxiety can worsen mood symptoms in many people with bipolar disorder. It’s important to manage your stress in a healthy way and to try to eliminate stressors when you can. A big part of this is maintaining healthy relationships with friends and family who support you, and letting go of toxic relationships with people who add stress to your life.