Rediscovering Fun for You and Your Loved One
During the period leading up to diagnosis and treatment of your loved one’s Bipolar Disorder, you both probably had your share of difficult times together that could be directly related to untreated Bipolar Disorder. Maybe complicating factors of the disorder even stopped you and your loved one from engaging in some of your favorite activities. And now maybe managing your loved one’s Bipolar Disorder is so much a part of both of your lives that “fun” is way on the back burner of your lives.
Well, everyone needs a fun time for a fulfilling life, even if they have Bipolar Disorder. Hopefully by now, your loved one is following an effective treatment plan that will make it possible for both you and them to enjoy more carefree, stress-free moments. If they are, you may now be able to put more fun back into your lives!
Here are some suggestions:
* Sit down individually and make a list of 10 things that you enjoyed in the past and would like to do again. (Add new ideas to your lists for places you would like to visit or activities that you would like to try.)
* Share your lists with each other and then decide which things you would enjoy doing together.
* Schedule at least two of these things on your calendar for the near future, and at least two things for further away.
* Don’t set your expectations too high. If you “hope for the best, but plan for the worst” (according to the Stockdale Paradox I have shared with you in the past), you will be less likely to be disappointed if things go less than perfectly with your planned activities.
* Always have a back-up plan. For instance, if you plan to go camping, and it rains, go to “Plan B,” where you set up camp in the family room, roasting marshmallows in the fireplace!
* Send each other an eGreeting Card. An eGreeting Card is a personalized electronic greeting card that you send to another person’s e-mail address. It’s an easy way to share your personal, kind thoughts with someone important in your life. The makers of the medication Seroquel provide a free way to do this (whether you take this medication or not). To send an eGreeting Card, just go to: http://www.seroquel.com/cons_bip/care/coping/fun.asp .
* Surprise your loved one with an “Un-Birthday Present.” This doesn’t have to be expensive–just something “fun,” something that would bring a smile to your loved one’s face.
* Go someplace together that is traditionally a “kid’s” place–like the zoo, for instance–and act like kids again!
* Get out a piece of paper and a couple of pencils or pens (crayons would actually be best), and play a good, old-fashioned game of Tic-Tac-Toe! You’ll find that you still remember how to do it, no matter how long it’s been!
* Have a squirt-gun fight!
* Go to the grocery store, and ask the clerk if you can take a picture with him!
* Go to the department store, and “test-drive” the tricycles!
* Take out the old VCR recorder, and make your own “info-mercial,” starring YOURSELVES!
* Look at old photo albums.
* Play the old kid’s game, “Rock-Paper-Scissors.”
* Tell each other jokes and riddles.
* If you are really, really bored, and want to have some fun together, go to: http://www.bored.com! You’ll find all kinds of suggestions there!
