Is it worse to know more? or chart your moods?

[rogelio63]

Do you find it's worse to read up on BP?  I would like to read some books on it but I don't want to get "into" being BP.  I don't want to find more symptoms or start manifesting more symptoms or imagining them just because I read that other people have them.
Along the same lines,,does anyone have a problem with charting your moods all the time?  I mean, I can see where it could help, but on the other hand I can see how it focuses me on my "not" being normal all the time, which I feel like I don't need to be reminded.
A few months ago, I got so frustrated with seeing how up and down I was,,I erased everything, all of it because I was so sick of being reminded that other people weren't like this.  I thought maybe that would help. And I was feeling really good.   Then about a week ago,,I felt pretty slammed, from out of nowhere , for no reason.  Then I wished I could see my mood charts that I had erased, but who knows,,,if I'd kept up on them I may have missed out on all that happy time.
probably not making much sense.
Rodger

[jlou78]

I can see where you are coming from about being wary of reading too much and tracking everything as I was very against doing this at one stage as I felt I was becoming obsessed with being BiPolar and there is a danger of viewing everything through BP eyes when actually a lot of the time my moods are perfectly 'normal' or due to circumstance. However that was when I was feeling really well and lately, when I've been more up and down I have found it really helpful to track my mood and sleep patterns, and I've definitely learnt to be more careful in getting enough sleep as when I don't that is when everything goes awry. So it can be useful in helping you to see and understand what helps or doesn't help you.

[mags22]

I think it is good to read a fair amount about the illness.  Not everyday and not all the time.  Once you've read a book or two and maybe checked out a few good websites, that you can always refer back to if you need.  But I don't think it great to dwell on it and spend all your time researching and focussing on the illness.  

Sometimes it can be a bit of a trigger to read about BP and maybe make symptoms appear, but I think it is good to read stuff when you are really stable, so that you do get a very good handle on the illness.  It should be empowering to be armed with knowledge.

I like tracking my moods...I don't record all the sypmtoms, treatments etc. just the good, okay, excellent etc.  It gives a really good visual, and yet isn't too in depth or depressing.  I don't think it means you're all that different from everyone else.  Most people who aren't bipolar don't have a totally stable existence. I don't think you could call someone who always has the same mood normal at all. I think everyone fluctuates all the time, they just may never reach the extreme depths or peaks that we do, especially not as quickly.  I find that charting my moods on this online mood tracker actually helps keep me pretty stable, as I can instantly see on the graph any dips or spikes and look into reasons and take a few steps to get me back to where I want and need to be.

[ILADVOCATE]

Knowledge is essential. Its better to know what's going on in a manic state and how to figure it out than and seek help than to find out afterwards. We have some websites linked up for informational purposes as I've said and then you can discuss it with your psychiatrist. The mood tracker is really quite essential. Medication is quite helpful but its not a cure so learning how to monitor your moods in addition to medication can be of much help.

[pain711]

Well...I have started both reading up on bipolar and keeping a "journal" of sorts. As for the reading, I feel I HAVE to do it. I don't feel like I understand it at all, so I feel like I need to educate myself as much as possible in order to understand what is going on with myself. My husband seems to think it makes me worse, because it makes me think more about everything going on, trying to make sense of it all, but I'm not sure I agree with him. I think one of the biggest things for me is that I'm reading things and thinking, "Yeah, that's me, that's exactly how I feel!" I guess I've questioned my feelings/moods/actions for so long and tried to find reasons for them, that now finding they could all be a part of biploar gives some relief. But that is me, and everyone is different.

As for the journaling, it hasn't really been of much use yet, but I've only been doing it for a couple weeks. Technically I have not been diagnosed by a professional, but my regular doctor and therapist believe I do have bipolar. I'm hoping in time that I can find professionals that have more experience with bipolar and can help me more. And I hope at that point that my journal will come of use. I'm hoping I may be able to look back at it and maybe find some patterns, or identify my moods. None of it makes any sense to me right now, so I guess I'm just doing what I can to hopefully get on the right track to understanding. I'm also just starting meds, so the journal helps me keep track of those effects as well.