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| Healthy Lifestyles |  If you have a new diagnosis of mood disorder or have been suffering from depression or bipolar illness (also known as manic depression) for years, healthy lifestyle can be useful for you. You cannot change your diagnosis, but you can change your way of life to lessen your symptoms and improve the quality of your life.
Reducing Stress
Stress can cause or worsen symptoms of mania or depression. It is essential to find out what are the reasons of your stress, you have also know ways to identify and deal with stressors and ways to decrease your overall day-to-day stress level. Variety of external and internal factors can cause stress, you may not be aware of some of them. Keeping a journal of the time of day and what you were doing when you felt stress can be useful. Mood calendar was founded to be a great help. If possible, develop ways to examine when and where you deal with stressful situations or people, selecting times when you are as calm and rested as possible.
Improve ways to prepare yourself for stressors which you can’t avoid, such as talking with a reliable friend before dealing with a stressful situation, saving time to be alone after stressful situations or taking a break during the day for a brief rest or meditation. One of the legitimate ways of taking care of yourself is canceling or postponing a stressful encounter if you are not feeling well.
Communication
Arrange to have a trusted friend and save time to talk to one another about stressful issues and propose support and guidance. Talk about things troubling you with a trusted friend, family member or health care provider before stress accumulates and causes a crisis. Write down your feelings and thoughts in a journal or on paper you throw away if you are not ready to talk about a troubling issue. Writing can be a good release, and reading your journal entries over a period of time can give you some insights into some of your thought, feeling or behavior patterns. You can also express yourself through music, art or other creative activities. You need not worry about the quality of your work or share it with anyone when you are finished.
Relaxation
Allow yourself to relax and save time relaxation. You may try different relaxation methods until you find the one that is useful for you. Some methods include:
• Walking
• Listening to music
• Dancing
• Bicycling
• Breathing, muscle tension or visualization exercises.
• Meditation or yoga
• Art
Use your relaxation techniques immediately before or after stressful events. Don’t use alcohol or illegal drugs to overcome stress.
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