One of the most important things to take care of when you have been diagnosed with bipolar disorder is your sleeping habits. The lack of sleep will worsen the condition to the point where it goes from moderate to severe easily.
If one is in the manic phase of bipolar disorder their sleep will be interrupted by manic energy, and if one is in the depression phase of bipolar disorder they won’t want to get up, but their sleep will yield no rest or regeneration of the mind.
What can you do to help yourself or, what is a common treatment recommended by a doctor?
Take your medicine on time and at the time it is prescribed. Some medicine causes sleepiness and some medicine causes you to be wide awake. When the doctor prescribes the medications he allows for that, so you must stick to the schedule he recommends.
It is important to exercise. If your mind doesn’t want to sleep you will still have a better chance of falling asleep if your body is tired.
If your mind wants to sleep all of the time you will have a better chance of getting refreshing sleep when you exercise.
Go to bed at the same time every night. If you can’t sleep don’t get up and watch television; read a book. The key thing is to go to bed at the same time every night. Sooner or later your body will get the drift. Watching television will just hype you up.
Drink plenty of water to assure that your medications are well processed, which will make them more effective.
Don’t eat before bed and in fact, you should be aware of taking your meals at the same time every day. If you haven’t guessed it already, effective bipolar disorder sleep management is all about a regimen.
Don’t drink any caffeine in the form of soda or coffee after lunch. In fact, the more you can avoid caffeine the better off you are.
Your doctor may decide to prescribe a sleeping pill for you. However, it is important you don’t decide to take something on your own like an over-the-counter sleep aid.
Don’t take naps. The more you can tough it through to maintain a schedule the better off you’ll be.
Continue your responsibilities. For example, go to work. What sometimes happens is that people will quit maintaining their regular schedule and as a result, they won’t even use their regular energy.
Perhaps one of the most helpful things for me was to keep a log. I would record when I woke up and went to bed and then would score how hard it was to get to sleep. This will keep your sense of sleeping habits realistic.
Sleep care is another way a person with bipolar disorder can help themselves live a good and productive life.
Sources:
Bipolar Disorder and Sleep Problems