Recognizing Impatience as a Symptom of My Mood Episodes

When I’m experiencing a mood episode, my patience often goes out the window. Recognizing that is key to keeping myself in recovery.

Hi, this is Carrie Cantwell with bpHope’s online vlogging community, and today I’m going to talk to you about impatience.

When I’m experiencing a bipolar mood episode, my patience often goes out the window. 

Having a normal conversation with someone, which involves both talking AND listening, is sometimes impossible. I interrupt because the person I’m talking to either seems to be speaking too slowly, or I think I already know what they’re going to say, so I try to finish their sentences.

Using something as simple as a zipper requires a bit of patience.  See if this sounds familiar: I’m leaving the house, so I throw on a coat. Connecting the teeth in the bottom of the zipper, and lining everything up feels like the biggest hassle, so I jam everything together and yank the zipper up, only to break it and ruin an expensive piece of clothing.

When I’m cooking with a recipe, I tend to skip or ignore important steps because reading through everything carefully seems too time-consuming. Disregarding directions can result in a ruined meal, and that’s a much bigger waste of time.

My impatience is a big indicator that I’m experiencing an episode. Being aware of it helps me remain vigilant so I can stay in recovery.

Do you recognize anything from my examples? Tell me about it in the comments section below.

My name is Carrie Cantwell with the bpHope’s online vlogging community. Thanks for watching.