Mental Illness and The Importance of Stability

Here's what's happening on the HealthyPlace site this week:

• Mental Illness and The Importance of Stability
• From HealthyPlace Mental Health Blogs
• Teaching Your Older Kids How to Get Along with New Roommates

Mental Illness and The Importance of Stability

For people with a serious mental illness, like bipolar disorder or schizophrenia, stability comes with having a routine. When the routine is broken, many times it can lead to a relapse of symptoms.

Such was the case this weekend with Randye Kaye's son, Ben. Randye writes the HealthyPlace blog "Mental Illness in the Family." In her recent post, she discusses the sudden upheaval in Ben's life which landed him back in the psychiatric hospital for the first time since 2005. Many people are commenting and I hope you'll join the conversation.

So what can you do to help maintain stability? Good regular sleep patterns and eating healthy scheduled meals will go a long way. If you take medication, take it at the times prescribed by your doctor. And mental health professionals recommended staying away from alcohol and drugs. Finally, don't make hasty life changing decisions like suddenly quitting your job, moving away from family or friends, or buying something you always wanted but can't afford.

It's tough enough managing a serious mental illness. There's no need to add a lot of stress into the mix.

• Mood Stability Lifestyle and Behavior Changes
• Does My Diet Have Anything to Do With Bipolar Disorder
• Will Exercise Really Make A Difference
• Why Do I Need Regulated Sleep Patterns
• 4-Step Plan to Mood Stability and Tools for Mood Stability (Videos # 7, 8)

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From HealthyPlace Mental Health Blogs

Your comments and observations are welcomed.

• Relapse: Inevitable with Too Much Change? (Mental Illness in the Family Blog)
• Time for Tech in Depression Treatment (Depression Diaries Blog)
• I'm Too Smart to be Bipolar - Intelligence and Mental Illness (Breaking Bipolar Blog)
• Codependency and Verbal Abuse Victims (Verbal Abuse and Relationships Blog)
• Juggling 101: CBT and Anxiety (Treating Anxiety Blog)
• Link between Substance Abuse and Eating Disorders (Debunking Addiction Blog)
• The Summertime Blues: Navigating Eating Disorder Triggers Redux (Surviving ED Blog)
• Parents Look to Other Parents When Professionals Fail to Provide Comfort (Life with Bob: A Parenting Blog)
• Personality Tests: A Barrier to Employment for Mentally Ill (More Than Borderline Blog)
• This Is Mental Clouding (Dissociative Living Blog)
• Should Borderline Personality Disorder Be Renamed? Video
• Abusive Relationships - Why do victims stay?
• Why Track My Mood If I'm Just Anxious?
• Psychiatric Medication Doesn't Work
• The Link between Substance Abuse and Eating Disorders
• Personality Tests: A Barrier to Employment
• Vacations and Bipolar Disorder

Feel free to share your thoughts and comments at the bottom of any blog post. And visit the mental health blogs homepage for the latest posts.

Teaching Your Older Kids How to Get Along with New Roommates

It's sleepover camp time or maybe you have a child heading off to college in the fall. How do you get your child prepared to handle a new roommate situation? The Parenting Coach, Dr. Steven has some suggestions to help your child have a compatible roommate situation.

If you know of anyone who can benefit from this newsletter or the HealthyPlace.com site, I hope you'll pass this on to them. You can also share the newsletter on any social network you belong to by clicking the links below. For updates throughout the week,

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