Real-life insights from our readers reveal what truly helps calm anxiety alongside bipolar disorder.
For many people living with bipolar disorder, the intense highs of mania and the deep lows of depression may feel most familiar — yet they’re often not the only challenges. Studies suggest that more than half of those with bipolar disorder will also face an anxiety disorder at some point in their lives.
To learn how anxiety shows up and what truly helps, readers were invited to share their own insights by answering this question: How does anxiety typically manifest in your life, and what helps you deal with it?
Anxiety Is the Most Difficult Mood to Manage
I find I deal with high anxiety more than my other moods. The rapid onset makes it difficult to prepare for the unknown behaviors of anxiety. This drives people away and results in depression. This a driving force for isolation as I’m afraid of conflict or harm to others. For me, this is the most volatile mood to manage.
— T.M., South Dakota
Recognizing Anxiety Attacks Signals an Oncoming Mood Shift
Anxiety and depression are very hard to manage during episodes. But I can usually spot when a shift is coming because anxiety attacks increase. Then, hopeless depression. It’s a vicious cycle.
— N.G., Oregon
Have a Lighter To-Do List
I used to think I had anxiety for no reason. Then I kept a journal for two months. I could see what happened 24 hours before the anxiety. I was surprised when I read the passages — 90 percent had a to-do list written in them. I had myself so busy and convinced I could have everything done in one day that I would have anxiety towards the evening.
The anxiety caused my sleep pattern to be irregular, which caused more anxiety. So I started putting one large project on the to-do list and giving myself a week to finish it. I also assigned five small tasks for the week. It was impossible, I thought, but I kept at it. I still have anxiety, but I can handle it a lot better now.
— S.S., Oregon
Healthy Coping Mechanisms Are Essential
Anxiety is part of my bipolar 2. It’s more manageable now that I’ve learned some excellent CBT skills to help me handle it. Meds help, too, along with weekly therapy sessions, daily awareness of my emotional and psychological state, and a consistent commitment to mindfulness meditation, prayer, nutrition, and exercise.
Getting out in nature and on my bike are essential for me, too. Journaling and creative activities also help. Sometimes it was hard to differentiate between anxiety and low-level mania, but that has gotten more obvious.
— J.G., Minnesota
Meditation and Exercise Help Manage Anxiety
My anxiety is through the roof when I’m depressed. What I do for anxiety: Meditate as often as I can. Go for a walk. When that’s really hard to do, I push for, “Okay, I’ll go for a five-minute walk and see what happens after that.” I try to be vigilant not to judge those automatic thoughts that come screaming through my head. If I can say, “Isn’t that interesting,” or “That’s curious,” versus judging those thoughts, it really helps. I only recently started treating the anxiety with some medication. I’m trying not to expect that to help, but I am hoping.
— D.M., Michigan
Remembering to Breathe
I deal with anxiety during mood episodes and between. I don’t notice the anxiety as much when I’m in full-blown mania because I am so angry and hateful that this overshadows most everything else. During depressions or between episodes, it feels like a hamster wheel. I get anxious, and then I become nervous about feeling anxious.
I do have episodes when I am so anxious that I freeze. I can’t talk or move. During this time, I try to remind myself to breathe, even if I can’t think of anything else. These don’t feel the same as a panic attack, where my heart is racing so fast I think I’m having a heart attack.
— G., Oregon
Anxiety Led to a Bipolar Diagnosis
Anxiety was the initial reason I sought help from a therapist. She put me in touch with a psychiatrist, and the next six months were a time of frequent medication changes and unstable moods. Finally, consistent bad reactions to [antidepressant medications] had my psychiatrist consider a bipolar diagnosis.
I am forever grateful to her for helping me find the correct diagnosis, allowing me to be treated more effectively. However, treating my bipolar symptoms has seemed to push my struggles with anxiety to the back burner. Truthfully, I find my anxiety to be far more of a hindrance in my daily life.
— E.A.P.
Editorial Sources and Fact-Checking
- Spoorthy M et al. Comorbidity of Bipolar and Anxiety Disorders: An Overview of Trends in Research. World Journal of Psychiatry. January 2019.
Printed as SoundOFF!, Coping With Dual Disorders, Fall 2022