Avoiding Triggers for Bipolar Disorder

In a past newsletter, we provided an extensive list of triggers to bipolar episodes. In this article, I'd like to go over the main four triggers, and I'd like to do it a little differently. I want you to see these triggers from both points of view - from both the survivor and the supporter's views.

Just to review, in general, a trigger is something external which can set in motion an oncoming bipolar episode. Everyone has different triggers. For some people, it might be excess stress. For others, it might be frustration at work or a major disappointment. For some people who are highly susceptible, even a seemingly "wrong word" can cause them to go into a bipolar episode.

The person who has Bipolar Disorder should try to determine what those triggers might be for them, and go over these triggers with their supporter, so both of you are aware of these triggers. "Knowledge is power," so the saying goes, and having this knowledge beforehand can help both of you to avoid an episode before it begins.

Once you identify some key triggers, you can both work on handling those triggers more effectively so they will "lose their power," being less likely to disrupt the stability of the disorder that you both have worked so hard to attain.

Even if you (the survivor) are on medication now and it is keeping you stable, you should still both identify bipolar episode triggers and watch for indications of new bipolar episodes because, unfortunately, sometimes even a medication that has worked for years may stop working properly. As I always advise, if this does happen, contact your psychiatrist immediately for his/her advice, so that you don't go into a bipolar episode.

A list of triggers should be a list of those things from past episodes that you've both noticed which signal when things are becoming more serious for the person who has Bipolar Disorder. For example, when my mom refused to leave her room (isolated), this should have told me and my family to take action then. If we had known that her desire for complete isolation meant that her Bipolar Disorder was getting much worse, we would have taken action sooner.