Bipolar Coping with Series: Coping with Professionals

I will start this article just like I’ve started all of my other articles. I am a diagnosed Bipolar sufferer, and have been now for 6 years. The advice given during the course of this article is not professional advice and should be checked with your mental health professional before being acted upon.

Mental health professionals come in all shapes and sizes, from community practice nurses who help people who are living in the community, to locum physicists who actually make the diagnosis and provide the ongoing treatment. I am unfortunate enough to have to deal with all levels of these individuals as a result of my condition, and as a result I have developed some coping methods so that these meetings do not make my condition in fact worse than it already is (Which can happen, as these meetings are always full of tension on both parts during the lead up to these meetings).

I am now going to list 4 points that I use to firstly keep my stress levels down, and then to ensure that the meetings go as smoothly as possible.

1. Arrange for the meeting to be at home – This is something that many mental health professionals will accommodate when asked, and provides a more comfortable surround for the patient, as well as ensuring a degree of respect is paid to them by the professionals (which may not always happen when going to the professionals office.)
2. Do something calming immediately before you go to a meeting. – If it is not possible to have the meeting at home, then do something that calms you down immediately before you attend the meeting. This can be anything from deep breathing exercises, to have a soak in the bath. Reading and listening to music also helps (although most bipolar sufferers enjoy music at extremely high levels, so I would discourage this, as they may not be able to hear anything that is said during the meeting.
3. Write down what you want to say during a meeting. – This can provide you with guidelines as to what you want to say, and will help you if you get easily distracted. This will also help you provide the professionals with an understanding of how important you feel these meetings are.
4. Take someone with you. – Taking a friend, or carer with you to these meetings can provide you with an additional level of support which these meetings typically strip away. This additional person can be a friend, partner, or just someone who you trust and feel comfortable around.

I hope that these points provide you with some comfort and help you when you have to attend your next meeting with a mental health professional. Remember your GP may also have mental health experience so there is no harm in asking them to give you some tips as to how to reduce the stress you feel before a meeting.

Have you got any tips? Leave them in a comment below and share them with the rest of the world!