Sensory Integration and Bipolar

This is a post I've put off writing for a long time and really shouldn't have. I suspect it is a bigger issue for a lot more bipolar patients than me, and it is making an enormous difference in my life. Since I have had the tools to address and diagnose this for many more years than I have had a diagnosis, I really regret that I never stopped to try it soon.

Back to basics first: As I've admitted here before, I'm a therapist. Specifically I'm an occupational therapist. One of the theories OTs are trained in is called Sensory Integration. I was very interested by this theory in school, so I have had extra training in it and have used it successfully in mental health practice. In very short this theory involves helping the body have increased awareness of itself which is calming to a nervous system that is hyperaware or less aware of where it is in space, what it is feeling, etc. A person with a disorder of this type either avoids feedback (will only wear certain fabrics, refuses to wear shoes, etc) or seeks extra feedback (chewing on things, rocking/bouncing, wearing many layers of clothes). It's sort of hard to give a great description because it is a pediatric theory which I manipulate to work for adults and it's hard to get some of the basics into an adult example.

Anyway, I have known for a very long time I had issues with this. I knew long before I knew about bipolar, like on the day it was first explained to me. I attributed it though to side effects of having been abused, for the most part.

About a year ago I started really using this with psychiatric patients. When I used it with a few who I knew had issues very similar to my own and I had incredible success I knew it probably would help me. So I decided to try it.

One of the greatest issues I face is that I become overstimulated extremely easily. The more manic I am the worse that is. Tiny noises make me crazy, as I've discussed. Things in my peripheral vision have nearly caused me to wreck my car. I generally lose control of my moods if I'm overstimulated too long.

At the worst of my illness this year I needed nearly total sensory deprivation at times to feel ok. I've described this as well, back in May. I used earmuffs designed for hunters to block sounds. I put up a hammock in my basement where almost no sound penetrates and the light is dim. I rarely left my house and avoided stores. I continue to use these things as needed. The hammock also is soothing as rocking is soothing. I plan to get a hammock chair for my living area eventually.

My greatest gift to myself ever has been my weighted blanket. I have had such horrible insomnia for the past 12 years that doctor after doctor gave up on fixing it. I had accepted I would always have trouble sleeping. Since I got the blanket, which weighs 9 lbs and helps the brain know exactly where the body is while under it, I have had insomnia ONCE and that was the night I was deciding to definetely quit my job. This has been 4 months now and I am routinely sleeping 6-8 hours per night.

There is more, but I'm out of time. I just wish I had tried to use what I knew to work sooner.....