Having a strict sleep routine has been very helpful to me in treating my bipolar disorder. I wake around six each morning therefore I go to sleep early so I can get eight to ten hours of sleep every night. Family and friends know that I go to bed early because I leave gatherings and functions in order to get to sleep on time. I allow myself one night of interrupted sleep and avoid two or more in a row. This means if I stay up late for a concert, party, or event one night and I get less than eight hours of sleep, or if I wake up early for a plane flight, any reason why I may not get a full night's rest, I make sure the next evening I get back to my regular schedule.
Also, a nice side effect of my evening medication is that I get sleepy within an hour or two. So I can easily control when I will go to sleep. I avoid more than one night of interruption of sleep because this can trigger in me a manic episode or contribute to making a hypomanic or manic episode much worse. And when depressed I need to make sure I am not sleeping excessively. In that case, I make myself get up and go for a walk or talk to a friend. I am very protective of my sleep schedule because I function much better with a consistent eight hours each night, mentally, emotionally, and physically.
Take good care,
Christine
"Never underestimate the power you have to take your life in a new direction."
-- Germany Kent
Comments