The first stages of a bad episode

It all starts with a blocked mind. Your thoughts are scattered, it feels like your brain has been cross circuited.

One day you will be feeling fine, then the next your thoughts are jumbled. Maybe you had a bad night sleep, or no sleep at all. You continually get forced to get up out of bed and wonder the house, then back to bed….and do this over and over again. It’s too late now though, you are on the road to a bad episode and a possible “high”.

High mood episode – you have now reached the point of no return. Your mood is spiraling out of control and the high phase has kicked in. If you don’t grab your emergency meds to combat the high, and knock yourself down and get some sleep then you are on the road to a really bad episode.

A high mood can have you feeling wonderful for a while. Loads of energy, no sleep required, chatting too much, ringing everyone, excessive cleaning, spending too much money on unnecessary things.

The next stage is a MASSIVE high. Feelings of invincibility, you can do anything you set your mind to. Everything is wonderful. Anything is possible. No sleep you think you don’t need it, because you have too much to do….everything in your mind is processed at warped speed.

Psychosis – now you are heading into the danger zone. You start imagining things, you start hearing things, you start seeing things. You don’t know what day it is, whether it is day or night time. You start talking jibberish, nothing makes sense. Your mind feels damaged. By this stage you don’t know what medications to take. Have you forgotten to take them, your too scared to take more thinking you may overdose. You start doing one thing, then do another 5 at the same time. Your mind has spiralled out of control.

At this point seek medical help immediately. Don’t muck around. Call an ambulance.

You need medical intervention immediately. Hopefully your family or friends have noticed your condition and can call an ambulance for you.

You may need to be hospitalised for several weeks. This is so important. You need to rest and recover, so take advantage of others looking after you. You cannot look after yourself at this point.