Everything feels overwhelming, how do I begin to cope?

I want to first thank you for having the courage to reach out and ask this question. It is not always easy to share intimate details about the challenges and struggles we are facing. It can be even more difficult to do so in this new age of telehealth and sending your information and questions out into the unknown for someone to weigh in on. I appreciate your strength and I am thankful for the opportunity to offer some insight and feedback.

Bipolar disorder and other mood disorders can be extremely challenging things to deal with and it can cause significant limitations in our ability to function day to day. One of the most important and useful things that you can do is to identify the origins of your feelings of anxiety. Some of the things you may want to identify through counseling include: Was there an event that occurred which changed your comfort level in certain situations? Have you always had difficulty with depressive symptoms? Have these things progressed and gotten worse with time? And what things trigger your symptoms? It is so important to understand the origins and triggers of these stressors. Knowing what may have contributed to them and what may bring them to the surface on a day-to-day basis can help as that may provide a framework for how to manage and cope with them in the future.

Therapy may include discussing and processing these feelings, practicing identifying stressors before they become overwhelming, and utilizing helpful coping skills to decrease anxious or depressive symptoms before they become debilitating. Coping skills have to be practiced and practiced and practiced again. And what's more, they should be mastered BEFORE we are in crisis and need to utilize them. It is not realistic to expect to learn to swim if we are drowning.  

It is important to know that you CAN develop and learn to manage your symptoms and stressors. It IS possible to take control and identify helpful coping strategies and practices that decrease the hold that social anxiety and depression may currently have. Counseling can be a really useful tool in that you will speak with someone who could possibly help you to organize your thoughts, identify goals and take baby steps toward achieving them. Counseling can provide you with the tools and you can use those tools to improve your health and your life. It will take commitment and patience, as it can take time to truly process, recover and move forward from where you currently are. But it is possible, and we are here to help you on your journey. :-)