topic New and struggling in Welcome and orientation

New and struggling

Tee_Jay — Tue, 10 Apr 2018 02:38:10 GMT

After a life time of depression yesterday I was diagnosed with bipolar and started on medication. I had a full night sleep and was able to get out of bed get dressed and do a little housework for the 1st time in days which is huge progress but I still feel so anxious. It's not as bad I'm not paralyzed by it but I feel so scared of everything but nothing particular if that makes sense. Will the anxiety go away? Will I ever feel 'normal' again? What strategies have helped you guys deal with this overwhelming anxiety and weird scared feeling?

New and struggling

PamelaR — Tue, 10 Apr 2018 04:26:57 GMT

Hello TeeJay

The news about your diagnosis must be a little frightening itself, though it's good the medication has already kicked in.

Welcome to Beyond Blue (BB) forums. People here are friendly, caring, supportive and respect individual privacy.

I'm not a counsellor or psych, just someone who has ptsd, anxiety and depression. What I can do is relate to you about my experiences with these. I'm sure someone else that has BP will respond to your thread.

Anxiety feels like it is debilitating, however it can be managed and coped with on a ongoing basis as it arises. My biggest learning is to not fear it. It's the fear of fear that used to make me feel worse. Now I go into a routine of:

Slow my breathing, while focussing on my breathe as it goes in through my nose, throat, chest, lungs and diaphragm. Counting in for 5 and out for 5.

Identify why I was triggered and work on this. You say you were diagnosed yesterday. Was it by a GP or therapist? Are you seeing a therapist? This would be good to discuss with your a therapist.

Do some grounding, mindfulness and meditation. There is a range of threads in the Staying Well component of this forum that can help you learn about these techniques.

There is a range of resource material available on the BB home page under the facts tab. Have a look there.

Hope some of this helps. Just know that you are not alone and it does feel scary. Though have faith that it is manageable once you start learning.

Let us know how you get on TeeJay.

Kind regards

PamelaR

New and struggling

startingnew — Tue, 10 Apr 2018 05:51:11 GMT

hi TeeJay and welcome to BB

Pam has given you a loveley welcome and great advice. i dont have Bipolar either, we have quite a few threads that might interest you. if you type in the BB search bar Bipolar im sure there will be something that intrigues you. there is actually a thread called 'this bipolar life' that might help you.

are you seeing some offline supports like your gp, psycholoist and/or psychiatrist?

again welcome 🙂