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The Mind-Cure Project - Jan to Mar 2008
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In 2006, I had a major manic episode and was eventually diagnosed with bipolar disorder. I spent last year (2007) coming to terms with my condition and learning how to live with it.
In early January, 2008 I demonstrated to my psychiatrist, by means of an Excel spreadsheet I'd been keeping, that I was capable of monitoring my moods and adjusting my medication to stabilize my mood, This is an effort to take it one step further. For more information see the Google spreadsheet at the bottom of this page which tracks my progress.
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Mood Scale:
1 - almost suicidal
2 - foetal
3 - very depressed
3.5 - very down
4 - normal
4.5 - too high
5 - full mania |
Goal:
Averaging (for three out of last five weeks) between 4 - 4.2, with standard-deviation for last five weeks <= .15 |
Symptoms:
Manic: forgetfulness ,
cognitive errors, etc.
Depressive: negativity, feeling of heaviness
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Tools: adjusting medication (Depakote,or, if needed, Abilify), cognitive therapy, mindfulness, "mind cure" |
Results:
Track them:
medication,
cognitive therapy,
mindfulness,
"mind-cure",
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There's one major reason behind this project (apart from the obvious one of self-education), and that is that maybe other bipolar people can learn some more coping tactics for their own lives.
In addition to the "results" documents linked from the results column above,
I'll briefly report on my progress in each daily blog, and will also update the google spreadsheet above (which also contains a chart, if you scroll right). Beginning with the entries of twentieth of Jan, if you see a little yellow triangle in the mood cells, you can read a comment on my mood by hovering your mouse cursor over the column.
A note on Depakote: I've found that if I'm depressed, then temporarily lowering the dosage to around 4.5 for a few days in a row will elevate my mood. Of course, the obverse is true if my mood becomes too elevated: I increase the number of pills. And there's a lag effect, so the art is to see the lull or rise coming before it hits. Sort of like the Fed judging when to change the interest rates (only they always react instead of acting proactively!)
Wish me luck!
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