In Chapter 12 of Bipolar Disorder For Dummies, we discuss mood stressors and triggers – situations, events, or certain times of the year that tend to lower your threshold for the onset of a mood episode.
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cheri
3:27 pm on
July 16th, 2008Last minute changes are a big trigger for me. I don’t cope well with people just stopping by.
Music can also be a trigger! Different types of music can drastically change your mood.
danishgurl
10:18 pm on
July 16th, 2008Starting a new project of any kind will often trigger a manic episode. I have learned to consult with my husband before starting any project to set parameters for myself and elicit his help to reign me in if I get too far out of my bounds. Sometimes I don’t care how far the mania takes me when I am involved in a creative project like painting or when learning a new skill. But I have to be very careful when undertaking something where others could be hurt. Like the time I started my own law practice on a whim only to have it crash around me when I fell into a hole of deep depression one year later! I barely pulled that one out and luckily no one was hurt – but it scares me to think that someone could have been.
Fluorescent lights in the grocery store if they are operating on a certain frequency can send me into a frenzy.
Unresolved conflict with loved ones.
Music is also a trigger for me – if it is what I consider noise – i.e. I can’t hum, whistle, or recognize a melody line!
Funny you were talking about your co-author’s wife being a teacher. I am a teacher and I love my routine 9 months out of the year. The summer months I have that “change in schedule” I have to work hard at maintaining a routine. It just helps.
As well, I had surgery recently. That was a real challenge to my wellness. All the meds, it just get’s complicated.
Great work! Thank you so much!
Suzanne
1:16 am on
August 14th, 2008Background noise is very difficult for me. I cannot concentrate on a task or a conversation with any background noise & even the music in a movie makes it impossible for me to follow the plot.
I’ve been gong through a very vulnerable time emotionally (even though it has been 2 years since my overdose). I am still so sensitive & get my feelings hurt so easily & actually LOOK for criticism (especially from my husband) which is what triggered the overdose to begin with. So it seems my “triggers” are self-manufactured. He raises an eyebrow & my thoughts escalate it to the point that he is thinking horrible thoughts about me.
I am doing DBT (dialectical behavioral therapy) & even though it’s only been about 5 weeks it is helping tremendously so I have hope that I can calm down this irrational thinking & eliminate creating triggers out of nothing but my own imagination.
Definitely starting a new project that I am excited about can set me off. I like how danishgurl had someone to help real her in when things get sideways.
This principle of identifying symptoms, then triggers to those symptoms, then finding ways to modify or eliminate the behaviors is at the center of a workbook I am putting together. My hope is that people will be able to reach out and help some folks get control of their lives again.
VERA
11:11 pm on
April 14th, 2009A night w/out sleep; fluctuations in blood sugar, esp. when it’s too low
Carole
10:51 pm on
April 15th, 2009A chaotic situations, like everyone trying to get to the table at a large family gathering (14 to 21 people), working in an environment with crowded rooms, loud music, lots of people talking can trigger anxiety which moves into depression and sometimes mania.
angelba
9:03 pm on
August 26th, 2009What is rapid cycling bi polar? Is that where you start to have a manic or depressive state /reaction and then catch yourself and polar back to normalcy? I truly do not know what is rapd cycling bi polar and am huntint the net to find an answer thank you for your help. Will try to find the book mentioned above at the library or something the next chance I get to go tothe library.
spider
9:10 pm on
August 26th, 2009Stressors for me are anything that is electrical and has a humming sound. Could b microwave as well. Sitting in front of this computer is very hectic for me since I hear my own voice repeatedly sounding throughout the electrical system. There?! Does that sound considered by any one out there? Please let me know, Soon As this is my nerve wrackers and my inability. To cope I generally stay away from all electrical(on or off)
appliances etc.
moodswingergrrl
9:19 pm on
February 24th, 2010One of my triggers, having become single again back in November after an awful, awful breakup, is seeing couples being demonstrative in public. Even just seeing them together makes me sick. I get angry and can feel my blood pressure escalating. I feel as though this disorder will leave me single for the rest of my life. I resent deeply that others have relationships that I can’t seem to make last.
jh
7:12 am on
May 6th, 2010I totally agree with all of the stressors listed I am amaze by how many of them are spot on as regards to my condition. I totally agree with the fact that cycle can just appear as I have been living with BP for most of my life. I now believe its totally biological one can manage the severity of episodes but no matter what it will cycle. As a analogy: I try not to let the train out of the station because once it leaves there is no turning back. With BP its not “what was I thinking” but more “how did I do that”.
Afflictions Film Series
3:39 pm on
July 19th, 2011You may be interested in the film “Ritual Burdens”. The film focuses on Ni Ketut Kasih who has lived her whole life surrounded by the complex rhythms of the Balinese ritual calendar. .However, the pressures of ritual requirements often overwhelm her.This may trigger Ketut’s bi-polar disorder episodes, for which she has been hospitalized over 35 times. Ritual Burdens questions how communal spiritual obligations may be folded into personal schemas of stress to trigger episodes of mental illness.
Learn more at http://www.afflictionsfilmseries.com
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