Bipolar Disorder on the Road Book Excerpt 2: Why does travel trigger bipolar disorder symptoms?

Click here to read part one of this series on bipolar disorder and travel.

What is the goal of my next book On the Road with Bipolar Disorder: Four Steps to Successful and Stable Travel?

The goal of this book is to help you manage your bipolar disorder before, during and after you travel.  It’s a four step process:

1. Prep

2. Travel

3. You’re There

4. Back Home

Have you ever noticed that stories in the news about troublesome bipolar disorder behavior often involve travel?  This happens because travel condenses a large number of bipolar disorder triggers into a very short period of time.  Here are the most common bipolar disorder triggers due to travel:

1. Travel puts you in different time zones. Anything that changes your sleep has the potential to cause mood swings. The more opposite your regular sleep pattern, the more dangerous the time change is for bipolar disorder. Time zones that flip your sleep schedule are the most concerning.

2. Travel often takes you to stimulating situations such as business meetings, weddings, holidays and fun vacations to foreign countries. As you know, stress doesn’t mean something is bad. It means change. Any change can cause stress and travel is filled with changes.

3. Long term travel requires a lot of specific planning. Planning and bipolar disorder often clash.  This is when anxiety can really show up and make planning difficult.

4. Travel puts you into small spaces with family members. Travel isn’t only about vacations. It can be a three hour trip to have a holiday dinner with your family. That’s still travel!

5. Travel upsets the structure all people with bipolar disorder need in order to stay stable.  I believe that planning WAY ahead for travel works because you have time to create a structure that’s ready when you reach your destination.

6. Travel is unpredictable.  Transportation can get changed or cancelled and anxiety is easily triggered. OCD is very common, especially in airports.  Planning for chaos when you have a long travel itinerary  is essential.

Check back for more travel tips!

Julie

 

 

Related posts:
Bipolar Disorder on the Road: Book Excerpt on the Topic of Bipolar Disorder and Travel
DBSA Conference in Virginia
Bipolar Disorder and Travel – 3 tips for the holiday weekend