Controlling Your Bipolar: Hobbies can help with your Bipolar!

Having something that you enjoy doing can help your depression!

The idea here is to distract your mind. When you start working on your hobby your mind is focusing on what you are doing. Watching television all day or focusing on your illness, can make your depression worse. I find that if I just watch television all day, which bombards you with negative content, just makes you more depressed.

Here are some hobby ideas to get you started! 

1) Paintings:

If a person has a creative mind then he can make glass paintings, canvas paintings and can also make mehndi designs for the functions. In this way they not only pursue their hobby but also make money from this.

2) Games:

Due to the advancement in the technology the computer and video games and watching cartoons on TV are very much popular nowadays. As there are variety of games depending on the age and the intelligence level are available in the market involves the mental and the physical stimulation helps in developing the educational and psychological role.

3) Cooking:

As cooking is an art of preparing food for eating so one can turn this hobby into money making by taking cookery classes and teaching the variety of foods to the persons who has an interest in making the new dishes.

4) Stamp and coin collecting:

Collection of coins and stamps are also proved to be a great hobby when it is collected and gifted to the loved ones.

5) Bird watching:

If a person is a nature lover then he can take bird watching as a hobby and can also join the clubswhich are avid bird watchers to know more about the same.

6) Gardening:

Gardening can also be the best option to adopt as a hobby. You can grow flowers, fruits and vegetables on a spot of land and makes the most use of it. In the off season he can learn the new techniques of gardening.

7) Golf:

Golf is the favorite pastime for the sports lover. If he has an interest in sports then he can go for it. It is not only a sport but a mixture of travel, enjoyment and refreshment after labor.

8) Photography:

It is also the best option if you want to keep a record of every occasion. It is an interesting hobby which keeps you busy in taking the photographs and then collecting them in the scrapbook which you can also give it as a present to the loved ones.

9) Traveling:

If a person is fond of traveling then he can visit the new places. So traveling can also prove to be a good hobby.

10) Music:

Every person loves music whether it’s classical or pop. If a person has an interest in music then he can join the music classes also. He can also take part as an audience in the live music concerts. Collection of the audio tapes, CD’s of the favorite artists or of the favorite songs can also make the person busy.

11) Volunteer:

If a person has an interest in helping the others then he can join the different NGO’s or other organizations which not only keep them busy but help in motivating the poor people towards education.

12) Poem writing:

If a person has talent of writing the poems then he can do it in his retirement time which makes him busy all the time and he can share his opinions with the others on the blogs on the internet.

So hobbies can make a person’s life stress free and happy.

Start with something simple at first. Get out of bed and do something, anything! Take baby steps. Force yourself to do something. If you are really depressed try to do it for five or ten minutes at a time. Set time aside and do it. I started painting. I was terrible at first. I slowly began to get a little better at it. Most bipolar people have great minds. Your brain is lying to you if you do not believe that!

Here are a few oil paintings I have done. Art and crafts help to stimulate your mind.

"The Tree"

"Daisies in the Meadow"

"Tranquillity"

"Fraidy Cats"

"The Fisherman"

"Sunflowers Stretching"

"Waterlillies In Blue"

"A very worried Fish"

The Art of David Richardson (Cambridge)

David Richardson is a cambridge bipolar artist who's paintings look very much like the expressionist Marc Chagall....'it seems to me that I have two distinct styles to my creativity. The first is when I am in an elated, highed creative state, where my senses are extremely heightened, my paintings are very colourful and packed full of meaning. The second state is depressive one, the work is ususally without colour and is not figurative where the meaning is dark and paranoid.