Read Living Bipolar for Free Online Page A

regeneration of brain tissue. And that’s exciting. As opposed to thinking that we just have a closed system of this many brain cells, to think that regeneration of brain cells can occur, that changes the way that we think about some of these illnesses. So exercise is on top of the list. There is no question about that.
    It might just be my knowledge base of foods, but I wouldn’t say one food over another is important for the Bipolar illness. Although it seems like omega-3 fatty acids have some mood stabilizing properties. I read some studies where three grams a day have some benefit both ways, for depression and when you are manic. I’m not really sure if there is anything which just supports those dietary supplements as enough to maintain mood. It certainly isn’t where it’s not going to benefit you if you do take it.
    What about caffeine and sugar?
    You’ve got to be careful with caffeine. You’ve got to be careful with caffeine.
    Why?
    You don’t want to disrupt your sleep patterns. That’s another thing when you talk about what else can we do aside from medications, you want to maintain good sleep hygiene. Good sleep hygiene would be something like not taking too much caffeine and certainly not drinking any caffeine too close to bed time that’s going to disrupt your pattern, because that can send you in to a manic phase as soon as that sleep pattern is disrupted. You don’t want to trigger that sort of a problem. And concerning sugar, a lot of patients complain about having low sugar, hypoglycemic, and feeling some mood swings with that. Irritability tends to happen.
    I know personally if I’m not eating appropriately I get a little bit irritable. But as a trigger for mood I’m not quite sure about diet. I haven’t seen that as a classic pattern, but good nutrition is the route which needs to be followed. You want to make sure that you are giving your body subsistence. Unfortunately sometimes, especially in a manic phase people might overeat or not eat at all. Mania can almost be as if a person is speeding on cocaine. Or similar to if a person was on amphetamines. Sometimes mania can cause a person to stay away from food, but you can’t neglect your body. The same thing can happen in depression where you are not eating. You’ve got to maintain some level of subsistence for your body to function.
    Other than good nutrition make sure you hydrate yourself -- especially if you are on lithium, you want to make sure you are drinking enough water. And all these medicines tend to dry you out. You’ve got to make sure you are hydrating yourself . You don’t want to be dehydrated, especially on lithium; you never want to get dehydrated because you can get toxic. So these are all good things to do.
    You mentioned “triggers.” How can Bipolar people discover what their triggers are?
    Well that takes time. What we know about Bipolar disorder it seems like some stressful event happens, like most of the disorders in psychiatry. You have, maybe, an underlining predisposition to develop the disorder. It seems like some stressful event occurs, and that precipitates the first signs of the illness, whether it’s Bipolar disorder, major depression, schizophrenia, it seems like that’s the best general way we can describe the onset of the problem. So what’s the watershed event? What’s the one event that might have precipitated it -- was it a very stressful thing. Well, it’s probably specific for the individual. It doesn’t necessarily need to be a catastrophic event.
    Can you give an example?
    Puberty. It happens to all of us, and that in itself might be enough to precipitate it, with all the turmoil associated with it. That developmental phase of our lives, combined with all the stresses and strains of trying to become an adult -- the evolution in our sexuality. Approaching that aspect of our lives might be enough to cause it -- you know the hormonal rages. That could be enough to precipitate it, and it’s a