On the “egg” side, changes in routine tend to play havoc with the master clock. Thus, a depressed person who lies under the covers all day or someone in a state of mania who stays up all night is literally taking a hammer to the delicate watch works that makes our brains tick.
In “The Bipolar Workbook: Tools for Controlling Your Mood Swings,” Monica Basco PhD of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center gives the example of a person who gets a bright idea and stays up all night pursuing it, only to show up at work the next morning with a racing mind and in a state of exhaustion, primed for a major episode.
"The problem was not the project," Dr Basco writes. "The problem was the timing.”
The bad news is that our overly-sensitive brains seem to set us up for failure. The good news is that by learning to manage just one thing - sleep - we are in a very good position to manage our entire illness. In other words, get the sleep right, and much of everything else falls into place.
Likewise, it is safe to say that is long as we play fast and loose with our sleep, recovery is highly problematic.
Lots more on sleep and what we can do about it in future articles ...
