How a Regular Schedule Can Keep You Sane

Keeping Bipolar Disorder At Bay, Naturally

Today's The Frontier Psychiatrists article is a guest post from our wonderful Nurse and Author, Courtny Hopen BSN, HNB-BC, CRRN.

She's previously written this fabulous article about overcoming bipolar disorder, and today she describes how living well-patterned life can be protective against relapse. Thanks for reading, and supporting the work. Take it away, Courtny…

While medical interventions such as medication, magnetic brain stimulation, and evidence-based therapy are often important parts of managing mental illness, these interventions do not take up the majority of time during the day.

What choices a person makes on a day-to-day basis about “activities of daily living,” such as eating meals, doing chores, getting exercise, and structuring their work and social life, have as much, if not more, of an effect on mental health. In my experience, the best outcome occurred when viewing things “holistically.” Once we have a sense of the whole picture, we can use all tools available to ma…