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Living with bipolar disorder can be challenging, and living with bipolar disorder over the holidays even more so. While there are many great things about holidays, bipolar stability often isn’t one of them. I believe we need to embrace the good parts of the holidays while protecting our mental health for after the holidays, too. Here are holiday tips when dealing with bipolar disorder.
Why Holiday Tips Matter for Bipolar
As I said, there are many enjoyable things about the holidays. The trouble is that these enjoyable things often result in a disruption to our routine and our mental health. Even things we enjoy (like, say, alcohol, which we should avoid) aren’t guaranteed to have a positive impact on bipolar disorder. (For many of us, there are negative things about the holidays with which to content as well.) Yes, this is terribly unfair. Whether you’re navigating a positive holiday experience or a negative one, holiday tips really matter so you don’t end up with a very depressed or otherwise unstable new year.
Bipolar Holiday Tips for the Negative Parts of the Holidays
Previously, I have written about the negative aspects of the holidays just as much as the positive ones. Here are some bipolar holiday tips for when things aren’t rosy and bright:
- Tips to Beat Anxiety During the Holidays — While holidays are commonly thought of as positive experiences, they can also be very anxiety-provoking due to family squabbles, extra socializing, money concerns, and more. But you can handle anxiety during the holidays.
- Handling an Unhappy Holiday Season — I wish the holidays were a happy time for everyone, but this just isn’t the case. Learn how to handle an unhappy holiday season here.
- Holidays Without Family — Mental Health and Not Spending the Holidays with Family — Most of us associate the holidays with family. But what happens when you can’t spend the holidays with family, either because you don’t have any or just because you choose not to see them? The impact on your mental health can be negative, but it doesn’t have to be.
Bipolar Tips for Maintaining Stability Over the Holidays
Hopefully, your biggest concern over the holidays is maintaining stability. It’s not a minor concern, but it’s better than worrying about anxiety or depression on top of it. Here are some general bipolar holiday tips:
Mentally Healthy Gifts
Finally, if you’re looking to give (or get) gifts that can improve or maintain your mental health, read this. It’s full of ideas for what to give a person that can support mental health. I also wrote a bipolar gift guide a few years ago.
(For the record, no, you don’t have to gift anyone anything that’s mental health-related. Sometimes, it’s the most supportive thing you can do, however.)
Final Bipolar Holiday Tips
No matter how you’re heading into the holiday, try to make sure it doesn’t harm your bipolar disorder and overall mental health and maybe even helps it. Don’t fall into the traps of alcohol and partying. Instead, enjoy time with the people you love and go see the twinkling lights. Those things always help me.
Image: Christmas cookie on snow decorated for holidays season,3d renderin – depositphotos.com
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