Read From Idea to Product – The 2022 Life Planner here.
TRIGGER WARNING – This post contains information on mental health disorders bipolar and dermatillomania.
In April 2021 I was diagnosed with bipolar 2 disorder. The long and short of it is that I have struggled with mental health for years {decades}. As with so many of us, periods of depression and {in my case} hypomania are usually triggered by times of extreme stress. When Covid hit in 2020, this particular stress seemed to trigger what’s known as rapid cycling bipolar which resulted in a series of psychiatric reviews, and ultimately a diagnosis and prescription for mood stabilising medication.
Mental health can be incredibly personal and difficult to talk about. It is {still} not widely understood and {unfortunately} so many feel the heavy burden of stigma which continues to surround mental illness. I have touched on my own mental health journey before, including my journey with dermatillomania – but this is probably the most honest I’ve been about me, my mind and I.
I’ll probably go into my bipolar story more in later posts – but for now I’d like to explain why my diagnosis {in part} gave me the final push I needed to make the 2022 Life Planner a reality.
First of all – what exactly is biploar 2 disorder and what are the symptoms? According to Mind.org.uk you may get a diagnosis of bipolar 2 if you have experienced both at least one episode of severe depression and symptoms of hypomania – hypomania being a milder version of mania.
Common Symptoms
| Periods of Hypomania | Periods of Depression |
| – Energetic – Overly irritable – Abnormal behaviour / acting out of character – Impulsive with little regard of consequences – Easily distracted – Creativity / new ideas – Mood swings – Impaired memory – Talking fast – Feelings of self importance – Illogical thoughts – Insomnia | – Negative outlook – Self-harm – Feeling sad / hopeless – Lacking energy – Difficulty concentrating and remembering things – Loss of interest in everyday activities – Emptiness – Self-doubt – illogical thoughts – Difficulty sleeping or eating – Despair – Withdrawal |
Rapid Cycling
Bipolar may be considered as rapid cycling if you have experienced four or more depressive, manic, hypomanic or mixed episodes within a year {Mind.org.uk}. For me this presented during lockdown as rapid extreme changes in mood between hypomania and depression within the same day or even hours. This period was not only very unsettling or me but, as you may be able to imagine, incredibly difficult for my family and was becoming impossible to manage.
Creating the 2022 Life Planner
My diagnosis with bipolar 2 was the trigger I needed to take action and find out how to not only survive life with bipolar 2, but to thrive – both for myself and those closest to me. This is where my coaching journey with Gary Sutton Coaching started and the 2022 Life Planner started to become a reality – a planner designed around my busy life as a mum, entrepreneur, home keeper, friend and wife. A planner which helps unclutter my cluttered mind and contains all the information, structure and reminders I need when I feel like I can’t think straight. An opportunity to “not sweat the small stuff” so that my creativity can flourish during a hypomanic episode or spinning plates don’t drop during times of low mood and depression.
Of course, there are other things which have helped – my prescription for mood stabilising medication helped break the cycle of rapid cycling episodes, journaling helps me to process thoughts and visualisation helps me feel optimistic about the future – but I can personally attest to the posituve effect having a planner with everything I need in one place has had on my mental health – feeling less stressed, more organised and ultimately like a better mum, wife and boss. Bipolar will not define me or limit what I can achieve. I am still finding my way but for the first time in forever, I can think clearly {or at least have a safety net for when I can’t!}
Find out more about bipolar here.
Find out more about and order your own 2022 Life Planner here!
Coming up
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Day 4: Have a jolly organised Christmas + FREE Christmas planner Template!
Ellie
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