Ways to Help Manage Mania On Your Own

I have experienced mania for years, in fact I first experienced mania for many years continuously nonstop,  I have also experienced mania for a few days at a time and even hours at a time, which Psychiatrists call hypomania. I have learned many ways to help manage mania in adjunction with medication which I highly recommend taking.

Although I recommend taking medication I think most of the fight against mental illness , mania in specific is up to us. In other words it’s up to us to learn how to avoid entering a manic state through our choices and actions. Learning the triggers that lead to mania is key, for example iv learned that a lot of stimulation and excitement for me can lead to mania. Like going to see a loud movie or attending a party. I have learned to pay close attention to my mental state at all times. Very similar to how athletes pay close attentions to their bodies to avoid injury people with mental health struggles need to pay attention to their minds to avoid mental injury, like a manic episode. Iv also learned the importance of keeping calm. It is my theory that mania is the result of when someone’s mental state gets too excited and ramped up and the excitement grows out of control so much so that even if the individual wants to calm down they can’t. Going off this theory it is my belief that remaining neutral and calm is key to managing one’s mental state and avoiding mania. So avoid situations where you may be overstimulated or become too excited. Iv even found out that normal excitement can lead to mania For example receiving good news or a reward at work can excite someone so much that it puts them in danger of becoming manic. Breath control and learning to focus on peaceful thoughts and learning how to remain calm and not get overexcited can help you avoid mania as well as panic which can worsen mania.

Now let’s say you are manic. What do you do now to get out of it or as I would say how do you get sober?For me when I find I am manic I first check in with my mind to see how bad the mania is and decide whether or not I need to take an as needed medication like zyprexa or klonopin, or if I can manage it on my own. Regardless of whether I take medicine or not I stop what Im doing and try to lower my stimulation. I do my best to know that I am manic and that as long as I stay calm and focused and avoid panic I can ride out the storm and avoid making unhealthy decisions like going to the gym and working out for 4 hours straight.  So for example if this happens while I’m at dinner Il go for a walk outside and pray to God and try to control my breathing. If I’m at home and the mania is severe I will close my eyes and turn off all tv’s or lights anything making noise or causing stimulation and iv learned that If I do this and just hunker down the mania will either  lessen or completely disappear. Again the key is to remain calm and pay attention to you mental state. The better you know your mind and your triggers the better you can navigate mania and mental illness. So again pay close attention to your mental state at all times, are you anxious? Take a deep breath, are you overstressed at work? Go for a walk if able, try to make decisions and choices that keep you calm and relaxed to the best of your ability. Your ability to do this will improve as you constantly practice it and you will have more and more success of avoiding manic episodes as you learn. I can promise you this, that as you work hard to learn your triggers and spend time being manic and being aware of it and attempting to calm yourself down things will get easier. Mastering your mind and your illness is something worth working towards. Put the work in and you will see the benefits!