Separating My Emotions from Bipolar Emotions — How Do I Know Which Is Which? – Bipolar Burble Blog

Bipolar emotions and my genuine emotions are two different things, even though they come from the same brain. In fact, they can be two opposite things. It is quite difficult to separate a bipolar emotion from my legitimate and organic emotion. What I often find is that the bipolar emotions are so overwhelming that my genuine emotions are drowned out. I feel like I am trying to separate a specific drop of water from the ocean.

What are bipolar emotions?

The simplest definition of bipolar emotions is this: emotions that are the result of bipolar disorder.

Okay, but that’s not the most useful definition when it comes to differentiating between bipolar emotions and a person’s genuine emotions.

Bipolar emotions tend to be very strong, unrealistic, and out of proportion to the given situation. They also tend to come from and be congruent with specific mood episodes. (In other words, your emotions align with your given state of mind.)

A simple example is feeling sad when you are in a depression. You may not have reason to be sad. Everything in your life can be great. But you feel sad because bipolarity has taken over your brain.

Another example is feeling great when hypomanic or manic. You can be an average person with an average view of yourself. He can act introverted on a normal day. But on a day when you’re hypomanic or manic, you can feel like you’re a god. You may feel that you are better than others. You may feel that you are smarter than others. Again, these are not your genuine emotions and thoughts; these are bipolar emotions brought on by a sick brain.

Of course, bipolar emotions can be much more complicated than that. Bipolar emotions tend to come with friends, so it’s not as simple as identifying sadness or grandiosity. It’s more like an emotional soup where a bunch of emotions come together and affect each other. Plus, this soup tastes different every time you have a bipolar episode, so even once you’ve done the work of identifying everything in one soup, another one is just around the corner.

What are my emotions?

It’s hard to know what my genuine emotions are, but a simple definition is that my emotions are what I feel as I go through life, and that’s not caused by bipolar disorder.

I once heard someone say that sculpting is easy. All you do is chisel off everything other than the sculpture.

My genuine emotions are like that. You take away everything that is bipolar emotion and you keep my emotion.

While I feel there is some truth to this metaphor, it requires knowing everything about a bipolar emotion in order to figure out what your own emotion is. That is quite complicated.

Separating bipolar emotions from my emotions

My emotions and bipolar emotions are mixed in a smoothie. And, as you can imagine, extracting flavor from a shake is very, very difficult.

And for me, I feel like my emotions are a small part of the shake. Bipolar emotions are fruit, yogurt, and milk, while my emotions are just a teaspoon of honey added at the end. And after you’ve beaten frappe in your blender, how do you get the honey out of the smoothie? Can you even taste honey with all that other stuff on top?

That herculean task is what it is to separate my emotions from the bipolar emotions. While it’s not a bad feat, it’s not impossible either.

How to separate bipolar emotions from my emotions

When looking to separate bipolar emotions from my emotions, I have to think about a few things:

• Are my emotions related to the mood I’m in? Are my emotions likely to be more negative because of depression? Are my emotions likely to be more irritable due to hypomania or mixed mood? What other symptoms (like anxiety) am I feeling? (And keep in mind that both you and your bipolar can share responsibility for an emotion, and that’s okay. It could be 90% bipolar and 10% you. 10% is still organic.)
• Is my emotion specifically known as a bipolar symptom? For example, guilt and hedonism (seeking excessive pleasurable activities despite negative consequences) are known bipolar symptoms.
• Is what I feel reasonable, given the situation? Yes, I could be angry, but is that anger proportional to what is happening around me?
• Have I experienced this type of emotion before as part of bipolar disorder? Was it related to my mood or the current situation last time?

Sometimes these questions are not easy to answer; After all, you have bipolar disorder, and being mixed up is part of the package, so you may need help from a loved one or a therapist. You can also try meditating on the questions.

But answering the questions above will give you clues to help separate bipolar emotions from your emotions. If my answers are no, no, yes, and no, then there is a good chance that the emotion I am considering is my emotion, or at least partly my emotion.

What to do after separating your emotions from bipolar emotions?

When I separate my emotions from the bipolar emotions, and come to the conclusion that I am dealing with my genuine emotion, separate from the bipolar disorder, I consider taking action. For example, if I am angry that a person lied to me, then it is time to confront that person and tell them how I feel. If what I’m feeling is happiness, maybe my action is just to enjoy it.

If, on the other hand, I have separated my bipolar emotions from my emotions and have determined that my emotions are probably more related to bipolar disorder than to me, then I will probably take action. For example, if I am angry about a situation around me, but my anger is completely out of proportion to what is happening, I will need to calm down. You may need to take a walk, practice yoga, or even call a therapist. Any of these things are fine, as long as you don’t take this emotion out on other people. Remember, bipolar emotions (or emotional intensity) are not your fault.

I need to separate my emotions from my bipolar emotions

In short, this is not merely an academic exercise. Separating your emotions from bipolar emotions allows you to act on your emotions appropriately and not lash out at the people around you. If your emotion is your own, you should act accordingly, just like anyone else. Emotions drive action; it’s just a matter of determining what the real emotion is and what is the reasonable action to take.

Other Posts You May Like