Three Challenges Older People With Bipolar Disorder May Face

Obviously, there are distinct differences on the path of improved mental health and stability depending on one's personal circumstances. Personal circumstances changes a lot of context about any health issue, really. It could be sex, race, religion, socioeconomic factors, or age.

In the context of this article, we'll be talking about a few factors related to age.

Diagnosed with bipolar at an older age

I've been on this bipolar ride for about 30 years now. I started cycling at about 14, diagnosed at 29, and now I'm in my 40s. In the major scheme of things, 29 isn't that old. I had one friend who wasn't diagnosed until his 60s.

In that time, I've noticed some particular challenges that seem to be more prevalent for people diagnosed later in life. Let's talk about a few.

Coping skills and habits

Life teaches us things. You put your hand on a hot stove and you get burned. Your brain tells you don't do that again or you'll get burned. So you don't, or you do it like a dozen more times until you learn your lesson - not that I would know anything about that.

Our brain creates strategies to handle what's going on in our lives in the form of coping skills. That's not always a good thing. The coping skills you develop during unhealthy times don't typically transfer to healthy times.

Learning a few things over the years

For example, if you know you'll get hit for telling the truth, your brain is going to tell you to stop telling the truth so you don't get hit. Do that for years, possibly decades, and now it's a habit. The people with letters after their names call those "maladaptive coping mechanisms," and they will screw up your attempts at healthy living quick-fast-in-a-hurry.

You can't have a trusting relationship if you lie to avoid conflict. Conflict happens. You'd need to learn how to handle it in a healthy way instead of lying, or doing whatever it is that you did to survive what you were going through.

Thinking about the long term

In my case, it was substance abuse. Drugs and alcohol allowed me to survive quite a few ugly times in my life. However, once I started getting well, it became apparent that they were making my mental health worse in the long term, particularly the depression.

Bipolar diagnosis and identity crisis

The person I was while I was undiagnosed and drowning in my mental illness is much different than who I actually am. In the bipolar space, you tend to see people associate themselves with euphoric traits. Y'know, free-spirited, joyous, charismatic, that sort of thing.

I, on the other hand, experience the "f*ck you and your mother," hostile-to-the-rest-of-the-world, probably-would-have-wound-up-in-jail-if-my-impulse-control-was-worse kind of hypomania. I gotta say, it's not great.

Shifting my lens as I got older

Like people who identify positive elements of their euphoria as parts of their personality, I did the same thing with the negative qualities. This must be who I am because these are my feelings, these are my perceptions, and this is how my brain tells me I should act. Except it wasn't because bipolar disorder was twisting my emotions, perceptions, and actions.

Once I started to get well, I was now looking at the world through different eyes and realized I had no idea who I was. Frankly, it was terrifying.

Old dogs can learn new tricks

I've found that a lot of older folks don't believe they can make significant changes. They may feel like it's far too late or that they're just incapable. That's bullshit.

Life is a journey of growth if you let it be. Ideally, you'd learn new things and incorporate those lessons into your life. Granted, we don't live in an ideal world, so it doesn't always work that way. People get set in their ways and they choose to reject new ideas or change.

Making small changes with bipolar

However, it's not as difficult as it's made out to be. Change often happens in small increments. You learn something new, then you choose to do something better today than yesterday.

Can you make one better decision today than you did yesterday? You can? Congratulations! You can learn new tricks. Yes, it really is that simple.

Talk therapy is key at any age

It took me awhile to understand these issues in myself. It also took about two years for me to understand what was going on in the first place. I found these things to be too large to handle on my own and needed therapy to learn how to do things differently.

Hopefully, you can skip some of that years long "figuring it out" process and get to work on it sooner than I did. It's well worth it for a healthier, happier future.

Be well. And remember – take your meds as directed. If you're having a hard time on them, want to quit or change them, talk to your doctor before you do anything.