Problems and triggers!

Hello I'm @Dogman,

I have Chronic Complex PTSD and I have Bipola 1, these are mental illnesses I've had just about all my life, but was something I was diagnosed in the last 7 years. I spent 3 years in mental health and in their i learnt about routine, understanding my mental illness and understanding my triggers ( what started them way back when and what triggers them now. I learnt how to handle my triggers over the 3 years I was in mental health and how to try and gain some control over my reaction to the on set of my triggers. 7 years on i am well on my way to having better control of my illness and with the full support of my family, my GP, Psychologist and my Psychiatrist I have been able to work through my many problems and am now much more comfortable with living in my own skin. I have learnt for me that there are many factors that I needed to change in order to gain a better life style and it toke years and much hard work to do so! I did spend a fair period of time going through different Psychologists and Psychiatrists til I found 2 that would really help me and it was also alot about personnality between my self and the Psych's. I had my family by into what I had to do and they even came to some sections with me so we were all on the same page. For me at the start I thought i was being extremely selfish/selfabsorbed and it played on my mind for years. How ever once I started seeing some improvement in my mental health ( and there was a 2-4 month lag time before my family couls see that it wasn't just a good day but that I was really trying to get my self better) it was then that they became more relaxed around me and we all started to get on that little bit better. ( It was very slowly, how ever over time our family dinamic has changed. We all had to do some work in order to make things work. Their was for many years that my family in some ways hated me and spent alot of time going places without me, that was ok I would not have been any good in the shopping centre or theatre etc anyway and they got to have some them time.)

I found with my Bipola the 3 main triggers at home was food, eg: Alcohol, sugar and Coffee. I gave up alcohol and sugar , it was hard but I did it and I started seeing results with in a few days. How ever I still have a coffee first thing in the morning and I have it with low fat lactose free milk and I am fine. I don't smoke and i don't drink and I don't go out with bad people so I think I can have one coffee a day

I found what really helped me was my diet, my exercise and learning to have some patience with the things going on around me.

I don't live the way I did before going into mental health and believe me it was hard to get in the place, I just needed to get a starting point and some help to be pointed in the right direction. Yes I have my ups and downs and I still see my Psychiatrist every 2 weeks and my Psychologist once a month and my GP throughout the year. I am in a better place now and I understand that this is something that I will be working on for the rest of my life. I live my life more to a routine these days and am in a better place to handle spontaneity, and so is my family. My partner gave a valentines card to me this year, it was one she bought over 7 years ago and never found me in a good place til now so she could give it to me. I must be working hard at trying to get and stay as healthy as I can, I did shed a tear over the card as I thought I would never get another. ( Never say never I suppose)

Coffee first thing in the morning

Bikeride on my mountain bike

general exercises ( I do what I can handle without getting out of control, and that changes day by day)

Health breakfast ( I found that certain foods upset my stomach and sent nervous messages to my brain and once i worked out what foods did that I had to change my diet to suite.

I work part time with in community services now, just a couple of days a week

I garden

and I am very very slowly writing my memores , it might become a book or nothing, and my Psychiatrist is keeping a track on me so as I try and keep my mental health in check .

It's been along road over the last 7 years and it's just the start of the rest of my life, I have lost some friend and family throughout the last 7 or so years, some I miss and some weren't real friends to start with. all in all I do feel better about my self and the people around me feel the same and that was one of my main goals.

Discovering the power of loving and respecting my self was a very hard thing to do, without it i would not have any of my family around today. I had to show that everyday no matter how hard it was I would try.

There is a trustworthy road through whatever life brings. Loving yourself will help you find it. Turning on your self is easy but only makes things worse, Keep loving your self and taking care of your self, no matter what-through the storms, the twists, the turns, and the blocks.

Take amoment, breathe deep, restore yourself to that sacred place of self-love and self-responsibility. Feel all the feelings, then let the go. Love your self until you can hear your heart and what it tells you to do. Love your self until you find the courage to act on that guidance.

It is a powerful tool for positive change and will help you reconnect you to creativity, love.