I'm Totally Out of Balance: Routine helps stabilize bipolar disorder

It is very late, or very early. I am so off schedule it's hard to say. I do know twelve hours after I got up, I am still in my pajamas. I have been reading and writing all day. This out of balance thing started during my last manic depressive episode. I couldn't sleep, so I just went on working until I was physically depleted to the point of not being able to walk. After I came out of it my sleeping schedule should have been re-established right away. But, I am a morning person and a night time person as well.

I like looking at the moon, the stars and the city lights as much as I love sunrise. I enjoy afternoons on the fire scape too. So, I've taken turns being both to the point of confusing my body completely. I'm eating at different times of the day. The only meal I eat on time is dinner, and that's only because my night time medication has to be taken with food.

But, I know balance is very difficult to achieve. It is emphasized in Chinese philosophy and can take a lifetime to learn. However daily routine is more important to people with bipolar disorder than it is to other people,

There is evidence that time between episodes can be increased by 72% when subjects maintained regular sleeping and eating time. That's incentive enough to be religious about sticking to the plan. However, I just learned that, and previously I thought I had lee way. After all, I've kept up with my household tasks, walked most days, and been up and dressed almost all the time.

People on disability are particularly susceptible to living unscheduled lives. I know it's difficult to stay motivated when there are few things essential to survival. It would be so easy to just exist. Most people want more from life than that. A schedule is a good place to start.