By Stephen Propst
Developing a balanced perspective allows you to gain the right attitude and outlook essential to managing your bipolar disorder.
Do you seek a quick fix or a long-term solution? Do you focus more on problems or possibilities? Do you have an axe to grind or a life to live?
Having the right attitude and outlook is essential, especially when it comes to effectively managing bipolar disorder. For me, achieving wellness has largely been a matter of developing a healthy, balanced perspective. My willingness to question how I see things— in spite of my illness—has positively impacted my recovery and my life in general.
Let’s consider the power of perspective by looking at a series of anecdotes. Study each illustration and take a moment to examine your own mindset. Familiarizing yourself with how you view the world is very powerful. Doing so has helped me, and I hope it will help you too.
The cellar door
The parents of a little girl warned her never to open the cellar door or she would see things that she was not meant to see. One day, she disobeyed them and opened the door.
What did she see?
The living room and, through its windows, the garden.
Most everyone who reads this story assumes that the little girl opened the cellar door from the outside. But in this case, her parents had kept her in the basement her entire life.
If you live with bipolar disorder, are you guilty of making erroneous assumptions? Do you find yourself thinking that you’ll never get better, find the right medication or achieve your dreams? Faulty assumptions can lead to having the wrong perspective and recovery can seem elusive. The more you challenge yourself, the more likely you are to adopt a healthy perspective and wellness seems more within reach.
The diver
One day, a diver was enjoying the aquatic world 20 feet below sea level. He noticed another man—without scuba gear—at the same depth. The diver descended another 20 feet. The same man joined him a few minutes later. The diver went down another 25 feet. The second man again joined him. This confused the diver, so he scribbled a note: “How can you stay under water this deep without equipment?”
The guy wrote back: “I’m drowning!”
Sometimes it’s hard to acknowledge what we want to ignore. You haven’t been sleeping well for weeks. You’ve lost yet another job. Friends keep telling you that your mood swings are wearing them out. The writing is on the wall, yet you insist that nothing is wrong. Sometimes, despite all the obvious warnings, our perspective is flawed. This can aggravate our symptoms, delay recovery and increase the likelihood that we will develop more serious problems.
Buried alive
Rescuers pulled a 97-year-old woman from the rubble of a building eight days after a devastating 2003 earthquake in Iran. She had survived by hiding under a table and breathing through a ventilation pipe. A Red Cross worker told reporters that the old woman was “remarkably serene.”
Perspective is a powerful phenomenon. Take time to consider how you see yourself and your future.
It’s been 15 years since my diagnosis. But some days, I still feel buried by my illness. At a recent visit, my psychiatrist remarked that he had been gravely concerned about me during the early years of my illness. Bipolar disorder was really taking its toll, trapping me under the weight of symptoms, side effects and intense suicidal thoughts. But like the woman in the rubble, I clung to the hope of having a life again. And, trust me, if I can do it, so can you.
No matter what odds may seem to be against you or how buried you may feel, the right perspective can help you find your way up and out.
Under the hood
About the time most people learn to drive a car, I was learning to fly a plane. As part of my training, I wore a hood that restricted my vision, much like a horse’s blinder. The instructor would take the controls and toss the plane about trying to disorient me. The object of the exercise was for me to recover and regain a straight and level flight path. I couldn’t see where I was or where I was headed. I could only rely on the instruments.
As with flying, relying on tried and true coping methods can help you manage bipolar disorder when you’re in trouble and can’t see where you’re headed. Some strategies that work for me: Keeping a mood journal, consistently seeing my doctor and regularly seeking support.
Been there, done that
Recently, my cousin accompanied me on a hike up a steep, tree-covered hill at our farm. It wasn’t long before she grew frustrated and exhausted. She collapsed on a log and said, “I’m not in shape. There’s no way I can make this.”
“Oh, come on, you can make it,” I said, trying to coax her on. She reluctantly kept on climbing and eventually, she made it to the top.
Once we were back at the mountain base, I told her to look back up. “Do you think you could make it again?” I asked.
“Oh, sure. No problem,” she said. “Now that I’ve been there, it doesn’t look tough at all.”
My first period of depression was overwhelming. Though I thought it would never end, it eventually did. Each subsequent episode became easier to confront, mostly because my perspective had changed. Increasingly, I developed a better grasp of what to expect and I had more confirmation that I wouldn’t be down in the dumps forever. I knew that if I had climbed that hill before, I could do it again.
Opie’s charity
In The Andy Griffith Show episode, “Opie’s Charity,” Andy mistakenly believes that his son, Opie (played by Ron Howard) has donated a total of only three cents to an underprivileged children’s drive. After learning that Opie is saving money to buy his girlfriend a present, Andy scolds his son. Andy, however, is ashamed of his reaction when he later discovers his son’s true intentions: Opie’s girlfriend is needy and he is buying her a winter coat.
If you’re a family member or friend of someone who deals with bipolar disorder, please try to genuinely understand the illness and how it impacts your loved one’s life. Education is the answer.
Knowledge changes your perspective and equips you to provide the type of encouragement, motivation and support that makes a positive difference. Instead of aggravating what you perceive to be a big problem, you can become a big part of the solution.
Indeed, perspective is a powerful phenomenon. Take time to consider how you see yourself and your future. Do you need to make any changes in your perspective? Don’t take how you see things for granted. Having the right perspective can make a big difference in your recovery and in your life.
Used by permission.