my psychiatrist told me to keep a mood diary for her to look through, and when i said that i keep a diary of everything anyway she said not one like that.. but i cant remember what she said to include in it.. she did say to number how i feel from one to ten..
i dont want to ramble on if she wantd the bare minimal
have you been asked to keep one? and what do you write in it? just a brief explanation of your mood that day? or just a number?
Dear Rachh, I have kept a diary for many years, partly as a way of monitoring my mood and partly to refresh my ailing memory. I have just finished a year of cognitive behaviour therapy and found it useful to have my diary for reference. My therapist also let me explain my general mood situation by the Gary Sachs mood chart where -10 is suicidal and +10 is mania. 0 is the general median. I was so relieved to see a therapist rather than a psychiatrist because in my experience the latter are mainly interested in medication and have no time to talk about any issues one might have. I take Lithium and Olanzapine to modify my Bi-polar moodswings, but there is more to the condition than just the meds. My therapist said that one of her clients had found a phone app which he used to monitor moods. I don't have a smart phone so wouldn't know where to start with that one!
Thanks Rachh and Claire. I always feel I *should* keep a mood diary. When I've begun, after a few days or a week, something bounces me into focus elsewhere--that bouncing ball of BP--and I don't rediscover I started one for weeks or months. That's my problem. Claire is right on about its purpose. At one time, I kept going pretty well on a "completions" journal. Instead of "to-do" list where I was doomed to fail, I wrote down daily completions. That helped me feel much better about myself. I think keeping a mood diary or any form of journal is one way to increase control, which is always a self-confidence win.
Go to the Bipolar UK link on the side of the page - they have a chart you can use to score what level your mood is at as part of a mood diary. Also note if something unusual about the day - extra stresses or positive events, then you can see if there are any trigger patterns to the mood shifts as well