A new study on bipolar disorder done by psychologists at the Universities of Manchester and Lancaster followed 50 bipolar patients for a month. The study found that the patients' thinking and behavior predicted future mood swings. People with bipolar disorder who think they have no control over their mood or think they have to keep active to stay stable had more mood problems compared to other patients who let their moods pass as a normal reaction to stress and felt like they had control over their mood. A new form of cognitive behavioral therapy, known as TEAMS (Think Effectively About Mood Swings) is being developed at the University of Manchester. The aim of the new approach is to encourage patients to accept and manage a range of emotions like joy, anger, and fear.
This means that, despite our chemical imbalance, what we think and how we act affects our mood. So we can choose to have a positive attitude and do things that are constructive (like exercise, do art, socialize, volunteer, take our medication, etc) instead of destructive (like drink, do drugs, spend all our money, etc).
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