Irritation

[HealingRecovery]

How do you guys deal with irritation? I feel that I'm unable to lower it. And it leads to hypomania. I'm diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder II.

I am seeing a psychologist and a psychiatrist. But it is not helping me much. My psychiatrist says that I'm a procrastinator. She thinks I'm using Bipolar Disorder as an excuse.

Please help.

[HarpreetG]

Hello Healing Recovery. Thanks for sharing your journey through the hypomania. It must feel exhausting to find a solution to the irritation in order to prevent hypomania. On a positive note, you have been able learn the symptom or cause of "irritation" leading to hypomania which may help you in leading to ways to deal with the irritation itself. Have you tried meditation perhaps in order to shift your focus during the irritation phase?

[HealingRecovery]

Hello, HarpreetG. Thank you for the reply. I have been diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder in May 2024. Since then, I've been on medication. I'm not sure about the effect they have. But they help me relax.

Sometimes, the agitation/irritation is high. And I must stop doing anything. It has started to come in my way of functioning. I was wondering if there are any techniques or methods that can help in those times.

Thank you.

[uni]

Hello HealingRecovery, and welcome to the forum. I deal with depression rather than bipolar disorder, but sometimes run into trouble as with irritation as well.

Can you explain what you mean by "I must stop doing anything"?

For myself, that might mean not spending time with certain people, or avoiding certain activities. Although that's not specific to irritation, it's more when I'm depressed.. Sometimes people need some sort of medication to lower the irritability but I'm not familiar with which meds.

With irritation, I mainly just try and keep my mouth shut if at all possible, and not jump into talking about subjects that just rile people up. I find it's best to just let a lot of things go by until I feel better. I don't know if you can relate to any of this, but that's my two cents.

[HealingRecovery]

Thank you, Uni. That helps a lot. Sometimes, I cannot just let go of things go by. Maybe they are professional or urgent. And I have to do them immediately. I am a college student.

Sometimes, people also get on my nerves. I think that is what my trigger is. I hate someone making fun of me or humiliating me. And it is hard to ignore that.

But your tips are indeed helpful. Thank you.

[HarpreetG]

Hello Healing Recovery, I understand that with being a student, being a student myself, it is definitely difficult to take a step away from work or studies. I have not experienced symptoms of Bipolar myself so I may not be able to answer your question of specific treatments. However, I am glad to hear that medication works for you.

Some thing that helps me overcome stress, frustration or anxiety personally and or others' negative viewpoints or perspectives regarding myself is knowing that we are not in control of others' feelings or perspectives towards us or rather their minds. We can only control what we think of ourselves. What has really been more effective in all of this is "letting go" of these thoughts all together through perhaps meditation. For myself, mindfulness meditation, silent meditation within and mantra recitation helps where it brings peace and feelings of calm as a way to release the anxiety or any feelings of negativity within. It is all about trial and error and finding what works for you in the moment. I do not want to get into religion or spirituality because everyone is entitled to their own beliefs and I respect that. In our culture we believe that every situation is a play and every being is a play by the universal order. This has helped me realize that I can not control everything around me and that it is truly universal intervention so to speak. This cultural belief has strengthened my ability to grasp that the universe and universal beings are an orchestra with all sorts of sounds playing around us. Some of those sounds may be positive and some of those may be negative. When I focus within myself I am able to find peace despite the negative music outside. I guess it is just how we frame our minds. If peoples' negativity around us can not change, we can try to reframe our perspective to help us overcome anybody's negative reaction towards us.

My apologies for the long post. I hope that helps. Feel free to ask any questions you may have Healing Recovery. I am glad to provide an ear!

[HarpreetG]

Just found video segments from the past that I thought I would share "Healing Recovery". I always go back to this channel to find tips or advice on dealing with any little problem or issue. Not sure if you may find it helpful. It is about mindfulness and creating awareness about our thoughts and others around us. It is a universal message for all regardless of who you are and irrespective of your background. I found it inspirational. Another motivational speaker is Mooji. His videos also have helped as he explains how we can overcome the negative feelings of others or anything that may hurt us.
Can I Stop My Negative Thoughts? | Lesson 7: Living With Wisdom (youtube.com)
Stop Letting People Hurt You | How To Accept Life's Toughest Situations (youtube.com)

There are also resources on this very website under Bipolar which may help you further if you need more information.

[HarpreetG]

Thanks Uni for sharing your thoughts. I am glad to hear that this is working for you in dealing with irritation.

[HealingRecovery]

Thank you, HarpreetG. Those tips are indeed helpful. Your culture is beautiful. Are you from India? Because I'm an Indian.

Thank you for taking the time to listen to me. It helped. It means a lot to me.

Are the resources for Bipolar under the education section? If not, could you please mention the link?

I've found you get taken advantage of when you open up. Maybe it keeps me from expressing myself. I avoid getting hurt if it makes sense.

[HarpreetG]

Hello Healing Recovery,

I am very glad to hear that you have found it very helpful! I am always here to help.

Feel free to check out this link https://mdsc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2...order-2024.pdf on our website here. It may be helpful should you want to explore further treatments or information for Bipolar. Nanak Naam Channel on Youtube also gives insights into how to deal with our emotions, how to distress, and how to deal with difficult people. Try meditation classes in your respective locations as well and it may help you find a balance and promote relaxation, peace and positivity. There are many benefits of meditation.

By nationality I have an Indian background (by faith I am Sikh). What Sikh means is always a learner and one who always learns and continues to learn and grow. I am also learning from all of you and your wonderful experiences. It gives me great pleasure to be a continuous student. Thanks for sharing your experiences.

You mentioned you get taken advantage of when opening up. It is always better to discuss your feelings and thoughts with others whether it is on this forum or with close family or friends that are willing to listen as it is a way to release your natural emotions and it may make you feel better when you talk to others regarding your feelings. Surround yourself with positivity and positive people. If people are negative towards you, do not blame them as they may have experienced negativity or been surrounded by negative experiences themselves so they are just trying to release their emotions as well. In that case, any anxiety you may feel regarding others may naturally go away. Give your negative thoughts or perceptions back to the universe and say, this emotion is yours and you are in control of it, so I am giving it back to you.

Thanks!

[Hazelcat]

How do you guys deal with irritation? I feel that I'm unable to lower it. And it leads to hypomania. I'm diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder II.

I am seeing a psychologist and a psychiatrist. But it is not helping me much. My psychiatrist says that I'm a procrastinator. She thinks I'm using Bipolar Disorder as an excuse.

Please help.

I see you've had several helpful responses so I will just add one thing. I'm a bit annoyed by your psychiatrist's assessment that you are "a procrastinator using Bipolar Disorder as an excuse."

While everyone is entitled to their opinion, I think procrastination itself is a very complex thing. I'm a writer who often suffers from blocks and they are usually based on fear. I wanted to share the following article I found really helpful:

https://behavioralscientist.org/the-time-traveling-mistake-we-make-when-we-procrastinate/

I also think it's quite unhelpful to tell someone they are using their illness as an excuse. This makes it sound like they are deliberately malingering which is probably not usually the case. It may be better to say something like "I think your illness might not be causing your procrastination."

Hey just my 2 cents. I often find that to overcome procrastination, it's helpful to set a timer for 5 to 10 minutes to force myself to start something, and then re-set the timer for a longer period if I can. I actually put a timer app on my computer and phone. I do this for cleaning, writing and many other things. By giving yourself such a short time frame where you know you can stop if you want to after the timer goes off, it can "break the ice." I also find it helpful to do a short amount of the project I'm avoiding first thing after getting up, and it kind of "breaks the ice" for the rest of the day and I'm more likely to pick it up later.

I also use a timer for time WASTERS like social media and online shopping. Mostly to track how much time I spend doing these things. I never allow myself to look at social media or browse the Internet without a timer running - not to force myself to stop necessarily, but just for information. I set reminders on YouTube (they offer this option) to remind me to take breaks.

[uni]

I want to thank HealingRecovery for starting this thread, and HarpreetG and Hazelcat for what you've contributed. I've picked up some good stuff just reading here!

[HarpreetG]

I am glad you have found the suggestions helpful Uni! That is indeed wonderful to hear!

[HealingRecovery]

Thank you, Hazelcat. That is indeed helpful. I appreciate your reply.

Thank you to others, too. The insights you provided were helpful. I appreciate you putting time into this.

[Mocha231]

Healing recovery. I was just wondering if you have had time to speak with your other doctor regarding the irritation that you feel. From what I have read it does not sound like your procrastination is a result of your diagnosis. Have you been feeling stressed or stuck doing the same repetitive task over and over. I think that may be a contributing factor towards your irritation.

mocha231

[HealingRecovery]

Hello, Mocha231. I'm sorry for the late reply.

I haven't tried speaking to another doctor. I have a psychologist as well, and I talk to her. I'm seeing my current psychiatrist for 1-2 years.

I have OCD as well, and I do repetitive behaviour. Maybe it could be the cause of my irritation. The overlap of both conditions is hard to manage.

[Dancer247368]

Hi HealingRecovery! Thank you for sharing your struggles with irritation and hypomania with us. As someone who is also on the bipolar spectrum, I too find that in times of high stress/irritation, I run the risk of going into (hypo)mania, and vice versa (i.e. if I am manic/hypomanic, I also become more irritable/stressed/annoyed at things that normally would not bother me when stable). I definitely do not want to challenge your psychiatrist/psychologists perspectives, as I am not a professional myself, however I am curious as to why they seem to be putting the responsibility/blame on you for things like procrastination, which I would say are normal and expected parts of a condition like ours. I think it would be more productive for the professionals helping you to focus on ways you can manage your irritation and procrastination instead of merely pointing fingers. To potentially normalize stuff like procrastination while bipolar, I sometimes get so irritated and annoyed with a project (especially when hypomanic, where my irritability skyrockets) that I will procrastinate starting it. It is not an excuse for myself, but it is a very valid reason. Maybe this can resonate with you too!

Anyway, I hope you are taking care & that you can access the supportive environment you need while you manage things like irritability, procrastination, and hypomania.