How to Manage Bipolar After Birth

If you have suffered a mental breakdown the recovery process can be long or short. It often depends on your attitude, your doctors, and how well you adjust to the medications prescribed for you. This article recommends steps to take to recover from a bipolar episode as well as maintaining mental wellness after birth.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

1. No matter what the status of your mental health is, your body will require a recovery period after birth. You will feel like you were hit by a truck when the labor and delivery are over. Usually, family and friends come to the rescue when a new child arrives. But, if you are a single mom with limited resources, you will need to be thrifty with your energy.

2. Breastfeeding may appeal to you, but because of the hormonal changes in your body and because of sleepless days and nights you will spend in those first critical months, I strongly recommend getting back on your medications immediately after birth. Consult with your doctors on the safety issues concerning breastfeeding with medications or forgo breastfeeding entirely to get back on your meds.

3. I was diagnosed with bipolar but chose to breastfeed because of all the health benefits I read about for my child. But, I was only able to last for two months before having a bipolar episode because my doctors did not advise me to take pharmaceutical drugs during nursing. I ended up being hospitalized for 50 days and my daughter was put into foster care by Child Protective Services and it took 13 months for me to regain custody. Subsequently, while researching bipolar and pregnancy for my book, I learned that there are medications you can take during breastfeeding, such as Depakote, which is not recommended during pregnancy but has not proved harmful during breastfeeding according to the Academy of Pediatrics and Association of Neurologists. If you do not have much help, train your baby to take formula and get on pharmaceutical drugs as soon as possible to avoid postpartum depression or a bipolar relapse because sleep deprivation and stress will catch up with you eventually.

4. Find a therapist who communicates well with you for regular psychotherapy sessions. Learn to trust your therapist. A good therapist will understand what you are going through and will help you realize that your issues and concerns are just as important as the ones for your baby. Know that if you are healthy, you are in a position of strength to make good life decisions for your baby and yourself.

5. In the first few months of rearing a newborn, you will likely be too exhausted to exercise unless you are getting help from others for feedings and naptimes for yourself. Exercise, however, releases endorphins that help elevate your mood. Try walking for at least 30 minutes a day. Communicate to your partner or support team that this is essential time for you to function properly in your mind and body.

6. Bipolar people tend to be very creative like so many people who suffer from mental illnesses. Look for creative outlets in your everyday life or simply make time to enjoy them. You may be too tired to think of a creative outlet. Yet, a creative outlet can be just the thing to energize you. It can be a passive activity, such as listening to music. Or, it can be an activity that involves you like creative art. Do what you can to be creative or to experience creativity in your life.

7. If you are on prescription drugs postpartum, you may be concerned with not being able to respond to your baby's needs while you are sleeping at night. Test your ability to wake up after taking your meds by setting an alarm to go off in the middle of the night, or when you are most tired. If you hear it, you pass the test. If not, talk to your doctors about what can be done to increase your awareness to be able to respond to your child.

8. When you are in a state of mental illness it's easy for your mind to play tricks on you. The first think to know is that we all possess great imaginations. We also share reality, but no one really knows what reality is like for every individual. If you cannot cope in the world due to your perception of the world, it merely means that you are not sharing the same reality as of the majority of people. If you choose to come down from your high mountain where you alone are ruling your world, you will find that many of your perceptions are tricks that your mind is capable of playing on you. It's also possible to function normally in society while living with paranoia and thoughts of self-importance. So, be careful. Find a person, hopefully your doctor or your mate, that you can trust to talk about what you are experiencing.

9. Most people are not familiar with what to do with a mentally ill person. So, educate them on the importance of taking you seriously no matter what condition you are in. I had many normal conversations with mentally ill patients while hospitalized and found many of these people to be hungry for someone to simply listen to them. In my own case, it was through talking with a friend about my paranoia while ill that convinced me that the decision to cross over from mental illness to wellness was mine to make. It is important to be able to learn from the insights others, besides your medical team, may have into your own condition.

10. I believe there is a higher power overseeing all of nature and our worlds. I call this higher power God. Whatever beliefs you subscribe to are meaningful to you. A sense of spirituality has always benefited me. Turn to your God when you need something. Remember to thank your God when you need something. This is not to advise you to become fanatical about religion. Simply develop your own spiritual awareness and beliefs, and strengthen your faith in your God, in yourself, and in your support team to overcome any and all obstacles.

Tips & Warnings

• If you love music, play music for your baby in your womb or post delivery. If you have the talent, write a song for your baby. Sing for your baby, whether or not you can carry a tune. Find children's CDs and play them for your child. Listen to music that you played for your baby in your womb.
• If you are artistic, create a collage of faces to hang in your baby's nursery or home. Babies love to examine facial features and people's profiles. Knit a cap or blanket for your child. Sit on the floor with your baby and draw pictures on a flipchart to entertain and educate your baby.
• If you like to dance, dance as you step out of the shower to dry yourself off. Dance when you hold your baby. Dance to the music playing in the background. Dance with your partner. You may feel too tired to dance but it is good exercise and you need to play a little.
• If you like to write, chronicle the events with your child in a book. Write a children's story for your baby and self-publish it using on-demand publishing tools on the web. Try journaling for your own peace of mind or to reflect on later. Create a log of what your life is like as a new mom. Write down what your baby eats, drinks and poops.
• Don't feel your recovery entirely depends on you. It often takes a support network of doctors, family and friends to help you recover.
• When you are mentally ill, it is easy to fall into the trap of feeling great self-importance. Realize that if you have just delivered a baby, it is far more important for him or her to be the center of attention than yourself.
• Document your moods and follow their natural progression. Share your thoughts with your therapist and talk about what's really happening to you on a day-to-day basis.

Resources

• Bipolar and Pregnancy on Squidoo
• Bipolar and Pregnancy Book
• Donna Merrill's BLOG

[ansu101]

on 3/31/2009 High quality writing and very informative.

[sanderdoe]

on 3/27/2009 Another great article from a person who has been there. You are a wonderful resource to all of those who suffer from any form of mental illness and are striving for a normal life. How to Manage Bipolar After Birth is exceptionally well written. 5*

[CaseyCarlton]

on 3/27/2009 Excellent article and well written. 5 stars and a recommend