Managing Bipolar Disorder: What Are Your Long-Term And Short-Term Treatment Goals?

Warning possible trigger

Bipolar disorder greatly impacts a person’s ability to make both short-term and long-term goals. Those of us living with bipolar disorder have a more difficult time making a goal and following through with them, compared to someone without bipolar disorder.

A New Set Of Rules

I wish I could follow the advice of the many motivational gurus out in the world promoting mind over matter – you know, the power of taking control of your thoughts by merely changing them. For example, many of these “experts” preach that if you have self-deprecating thoughts going through your head, simply change them. Unfortunately, when you battle a mental illness, such as bipolar disorder, it is not that easy.

How can you change your thoughts, or inner dialogue, when your mental illness can take control of them?

If you have bipolar disorder, or any mental illness for that matter, you do not always have control of your mind. It is scary to think, but your own mind can lie to you when you go through a manic or depressive episode. For this simple reason alone, those of us living with bipolar disorder do not operate by the same set of rules and standards as everybody else.

Bipolar disorder dictates these rules by taking over control. The idea of “willing” anything is almost non-existent to me. Do not get me wrong – I am an optimist and practice positive self-talk each day. However, no level of training can change your thoughts when you are in the midst of a bipolar mood episode.

For those of you who do not live with bipolar disorder, imagine an outside force taking control of your mood, energy level, motivation, activity level, and sleep. Bipolar disorder is not something that simply influences a person’s life, but rather it can take complete control if you do not manage it with the proper tools and strategies.

Fortunately, bipolar disorder can be successfully managed with the right treatment.

How To Take Back Control

Bipolar depression sits on the lower end of the bipolar spectrum. Many times, an individual experiencing a depressive episode will have ruminating thoughts of death and possibly suicide.

If you or someone you know is struggling emotionally, call The National Suicide Prevention Hotline (24 hours a day) at 1-800-273-8255. You can also text “TalkWithUs” to 66746.

With an illness that is based on extreme changes to a person’s overall ability to function from day-to-day, it is difficult to maintain any type of consistency or routine. Since goals are created with an intent to follow through and complete them, this is especially difficult with someone who has a brain with bipolar disorder.

As I mentioned, though, there is some good news: When you find the right treatment, you can successfully manage your bipolar disorder. This allows you the ability to take more control of your own mind, so you can steer the direction of your own thoughts and inner-dialogue.

Finding the right treatment requires patience, and your commitment to discover the tools will help you personally manage your bipolar disorder. Since everyone is unique, these tools are different for each of us. However, the gameplan to discover these tools is similar for all.

Your focus should be on the things you can control, not on the things you cannot. Redirecting your focus is a great first step. For example, you have control over whether you take your medication or you do not. To improve your sleep hygiene and to get into a healthy circadian rhythm, go to bed at the same time each night, and wake up at the same time each day. Remember, the idea is to do your best – not perfection.

Short-Term Goals

Since bipolar disorder is so erratic, short-term goals are your biggest ally, especially when you are first diagnosed. Short-term goals can range anywhere from one day to a week. Sometimes, they can be measured in hours, or even down to minutes. You are the one who dictates the length of time.

Due to the cyclical nature of bipolar disorder, the time between episodes, and the length of a mood episode, an individual with bipolar disorder can have great success following through with a short-term goal. Remember, someone with bipolar disorder is battling their moods, energy, motivation, overall activity levels, and sleep. With so much inconsistency going on, it is quite difficult to follow through.

Remember to focus on controlling what you are able to. This is a way you can be proactive in managing your bipolar disorder, and this will help you in completing all of your short-term goals.

Wherever you may be along your journey with bipolar disorder, I feel there are some short-term goals we can all make to improve how we can function and manage our bipolar disorder on a daily basis.

5 Short-Term Treatment Goals

First of all, please remember these suggestions are based on my own experiences. I have found them to be helpful regarding my own situation, and I hope they are for you, too.

#1 Safety

I have not ranked these five short-term goals in any particular order, but safety needs to always be number one.

It is imperative that you protect yourself, and those around you, from your bipolar disorder. Make sure to have safety measures in place to reduce the impact and fallout of any mood episode.

Keep the contact information of your medical providers easily accessible. In addition, make sure you know the treatment facilities in your area – emergency rooms, crisis clinics, and hospitals. Medical professionals can help keep you safe in the event you are unable to do so for yourself.

Discuss with your doctor what steps you should take to stay safe.

If you or someone you know is contemplating suicide, please call 911 or go to your nearest Emergency Room. You can also contact the National Suicide Prevention Hotline at 1-800-273-8255.

#2 Routine

Routine is a way to get back some control of your life. Creating a routine is instrumental in creating stability in your life.

When you determine your routine, make sure it is realistic and doable. You can have an awesome routine, but it does you no good if you cannot implement it.

Make sure you have the following components as part of your daily routine:

• Sleep
• Good Food Choices
• Water
• Medication
• Exercise

Most people understand there are basic measures to follow, but it is an entirely different thing to actually implement them – you know, the whole if you “talk the talk,” then “walk the walk” sort of thing?

For both your long-term and short-term stability, make it a priority to focus on the basics of your daily routine – do not take them for granted.

Schedule your daily activities. In fact, it may help you to set alarms throughout the day. I do that, and it helps me to follow through with my routine.

Building routine into your daily life is extremely important in your treatment. Structure is a way to help heal and manage – it is imperative for those of us living with bipolar disorder.

Last point on this: remember that your routine and schedule will not always go 100% according to plan. That is okay! Expect some curveballs, and plan some “buffer” or extra time in case unexpected things come up, which they inevitably will.

#3 Support System

A support system can help you in your treatment, or it can set you back. Those closest to you should support your healthy lifestyle and reduce the stress in your life – not add to it.

Ask yourself, “Who should be a part of my support system?”

I follow the medical model approach to my treatment. Therefore, I see both my doctor and therapist on a regular basis. Both of them are a part of my support system.

My doctor monitors my medication, and my therapist provides both tools and strategies to help me manage my life.

The rest of your support system can be composed of parents, siblings, friends, coworkers, a partner, and/or anyone else who directly impacts your life.

Make sure that the expectations of those relationships in your life match your own. If they do not, talk to the other person. Otherwise, you will have a whole lot of unwanted drama, and this will increase your stress level.

Remember to keep in mind that stress is the number one trigger of a mood episode.

A support group can also be a wonderful addition to your support system. You can find support groups in your area by looking at the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance (DBSA) or National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI).

#4 Construct A Treatment And Crisis Plan

Think of your treatment and crisis plan as your game plan. You can create your treatment and crisis plan by getting input from your medical providers and loved ones. Make sure everything is written down, so you have an actual tangible plan in place.

Your plan should answer two main questions:

• How do you treat and manage your bipolar disorder?
• What steps should be taken in case of a crisis?

If you are newly diagnosed, this plan will provide you with direction and steps that you can take each day to successfully manage your bipolar disorder. As time goes by, it will evolve as you try new medications and discover new coping strategies.

Remember, bipolar disorder has no cure, but it can be successfully managed with the right treatment.

#5 Reduce Stress

Stress is unavoidable. How you deal with it is most important.

Make it a point to reduce the stress in your life and work to reduce its impact on your mental well-being.

For some reason, those of us living with bipolar disorder are more sensitive to stress than others. Taking preventative measures and directly dealing with your stressors are ways to reduce the impact of stress on you.

Preventative Measures

A preventative measure is simply following your treatment plan. Put it into action, and you will have implemented preventative measures.

Taking action now will reduce, and possibly eliminate, the future fallout from a mood episode.

Deal With Stress

Do not let stress build. Instead, deal with it as it comes.

Cope with stress by finding strategies that work for you. Experiment until you find healthy coping techniques.

Long-Term Goals

The same thought process used to create short-term goals should also be implemented in creating your long-term goals. The only difference is that a long-term goal requires a longer time frame to complete. Whereas a short-term goal ranges from a day up to a week, a long-term goal is anything longer than a week.

I am not saying that someone with bipolar disorder cannot follow through with a long-term goal. It just takes a little bit more planning and preparation. You need to have a “Plan B” in case you are unable to work on your goal for a day. Just like for the short-term goals, you need to be proactive and control what you can.

When it comes to making goals, you need to be brutally honest with yourself. Ask yourself some questions, and do not “sugarcoat” the answers.

Asking these questions will point you in the right direction:

• How often do you experience mood episodes?
• What type of bipolar disorder do you have?
• How do you feel from day-to-day?
• How are you feeling about where you currently are in your life?

A very important point to make: A long-term goal is just many short-term goals combined.

An Example From My Own Life

For many years, I used to work as a personal trainer. Many of my clients made weight loss their long-term goal.

Now, let me break down the thought process in chopping up the long-term goal of weight loss into many short-term goals. From a healthy standpoint, you should strive to lose from one to two pounds of weight each week. If you want to lose 20 pounds, you realistically need to plan for 10-20 weeks to reach your goal. Keep in mind, too, the uncertainty of bipolar mood episodes and the fluctuations from day-to-day. An episode can easily derail your progress. For this reason, I always choose the more conservative timeframe. In this example, that is 20 weeks.

In this instance, your long-term goal is 20 weeks to lose 20 pounds of weight. Each week, you will focus on losing one pound of weight by utilizing exercise and making healthy eating choices. Here, your short-term goal is one pound of weight loss each week. Multiply that by 20, and you have your long-term goal of 20 weeks. See my thought process here?

This example is a very conservative weight-loss program in terms of time to completion, in order to demonstrate the framework for both short-term and long-term goals.

What has been your own experience with goal setting? Please comment below. I would love to hear what helps you and what does not.

Last Thoughts

Short-term treatment goals are important when it comes to managing bipolar disorder. I use these goals as ways to initiate action, as it can be extremely difficult to focus when my mind is in chaos.

There is real wisdom in writing down your treatment goals and describing what steps you will take to reach them.

In the end, it all comes down to you. Your support system is there to help you along your journey, but they cannot do it for you.

You are the one to decide if you will take action, or if you will not.

Will you do what it takes to feel better?