It is well known that those with bipolar disorder have a much higher sensitivity to poisons than those who do not. Everyone seems to love coffees, sodas, cigarettes, and drugs, but most know that these substances are not good for long-term health.
The need to self medicate with bipolar disorder is great, so a manic depressive will usually abuse these items. Remember, if a product gives you a high, it will probably give you an equally or greater low later on.
It all starts innocently enough. You feel tired one day and use a soda as a pick me up. The only problem is that you haven’t taken the time to rest, so your episodes will just get worse with time, requiring more and more coffee and so does in order to stay awake.
Or let us say you take some caffeine tablets one day because you feel exhausted. Before you know it, you are up to 20 tablets a day, and are a walking zombie with insomnia who can’t function. You are so hopped up on mania that you are borderline psychotic and must be hospitalized.
Stimulants only temporarily mask your disorder, and do not solve the problem.
While smoking or chewing tobacco may seem to help your concentration temporarily, it is just a quick fix and before you know it, you’re hooked for years in its time. If you’re bipolar, you should never ever start smoking, as it is extremely difficult to quit. It took me four tries, before I finally quit. My longest period before relapse was three months until the last try.
Methamphetamines are especially dangerous to those who are bipolar, causing psychosis, full blow manic episodes, delusions, and hallucinations after a relatively short period of use. Any manic depressive who’s been using methamphetamines regularly will no doubt end up hospitalized or dead. The short term pleasure of getting high is not worth long-term pain.
If you are bipolar and manage to eliminate these substances from your life, you will feel a lot better off, and it will be easier to regulate your moods. If you do not adjust your lifestyle; there is no way to improve your bipolar disorder, even if you are taking a candy store worth of pharmaceuticals,