Oh Yeah, My Mood Action Plan

My experience the other night made me remember that I'd created a Mood Action Plan back in the day.  I've printed it up and posted it above my desk/studio table.  I've already acted on some of them -- namely those that deal with my daily mood crashes:

• Troughs or crashes in mood between the times of 4 and 8 pm become more frequent
• Troughs or crashes in mood between the times of 4 and 8 pm become worse (tearfulness, paranoia about relationships, pessimism running to despair)
• Troughs or crashes in mood lengthen beyond the 4 to 8 pm range

All three of these symptoms are occurring, a fact to which I have alerted my pdoc (which was action number 1 on my Plan). We're trying an Adderall booster in the early afternoon, but it's proving to be problematic for my sleep if I don't get in some vigorous exercise during the day.  And I do mean "vigorous". It has to be weight training -- going for a run don't cut it.


On the days when I know I can't take Adderall I just crank up my sunlamp time. I've found that if I have it on all day I feel pretty good. Of course, this only works on days when I have absolutely no place to be -- no friends to meet, no appointments with my pdoc, no volunteer shifts to fill, no errands to run, no chores to do ... and I can feel like I'm confined to it, which is frustrating. 


So far, I haven't had the hypomanic symptoms, like a dramatic upsurge in energy at 10 pm which causes me to start cleaning the house. Last year, I might find myself taking a toothbrush to the grout between the tiles on the kitchen counter top, then glancing at the clock to see that it was 1 am. And then taking the toothbrush to the nasty parts under the faucet and water taps.


I'm also doing OK, at least so far, regarding the bizarre thoughts.  There are lighting issues that are beginning to irritate me, and that's a bit of a concern -- last year, the irritation turned into paranoia.  I'm thinking that I'll attend to the lighting issues while they're still just irritations.

As the darkness encroaches, we shall see how this goes.