Cleaning as therapy?

[Paz]

 In my never ending quest to try to live with BP with as few meds as possible, I am always thinking of everyday things that I can implement into a type of wellness life plan...and I wanted to talk about cleaning, organizing, arranging, etc. as a type of therapy. Cleaning is something that uses up manic energy, it gives me a sense of control, and a sense of calmness after I am done, as I can see the fruits of my labor. Having things clean and in their place helps my mind to be at peace, as I am easily disturbed by clutter and chaos. In short, when stuff is clean, it is one less thing that I have to worry about, one less thing that has the potential to upset me. Am I crazy? My diagnosis says so, but I am trying to live my life in a way that helps me to not be so crazy. Any thoughts?

[Ashes]

Paz
I feel the same way except for the manic part.  Usually I don't just get manic I have mixed episodes (while not sleeping I am hearing voices that are scary and sad).  So when I am that way I try to clean because I am obsessed with germs but it doesn't usually work.  EXP:  I try to clean the floor and realize I should clean the counters first but to clean the counters I must clear them to clear them I have to clean out the drawers and so on.

[Paz]

  Mixed episodes really suck, I am sorry that you get those...I have experienced them myself. My old shrink said that I was an ultra rapid cycler, and my current one said that she thought that I was having mixed episodes...it makes you wonder if they really know what the Hell they are talking about.
 I used to have hallucinations, mostly visual, but I haven't had anything like that for over 2 years now...sometimes I think that all the crazy meds that I used to take was making things worse. Have you noticed if meds make yours worse?
 I feel like I can concentrate much better now that I take minimal meds, although I do have ADD [I don't take anything for it] My shrink said that if my focus became worse, that she would consider a med for it, but I said no thanks...if I can't focus on something, then I just try to walk away and do something else for the time being...I don't let it stress me out. Life is too short to worry about stuff like that.
 Getting back to the cleaning thing, I was wondering if anyone else was disturbed by clutter and chaos...A few other BP's that I know are disturbed when there is too much noise...I definitely am, I consider the TV blaring and music and talking all at the same time to be "auditory clutter"...I can't take it. For me to feel calm, I need calm surroundings. I was wondering if anyone else was like that, or am I just a pain in the ass?

[Ashes]

Your not just being a pain in the ass.  I cant stand noise, t.v. to loud, people talking over each other, etc... .  My nieces come over after school and drive me nuts.   Its not that they are bad but just hearing them argue makes me want to lock myself in a room.  Clutter also drives me nuts, I feel like I'm surrounded witch really puts me on edge.

[dionomo]

im the same way i clean i workout i put pillows over my face at night to absorb all my tears i get all crazy and get all manic and if anything is on my head i dont sleep it scares the shit out of me that i am even this way so i bounce around like a pinball all day i am starting my own business now and im so cluster fucked i feel like i am gonna explode and i have never realized any of these things until i started to deal with my life and this feels like the hardest thing i have ever tryed to do and i never knew this til last night its so ironic i got on here and found this today it was so weird today and yesterday while i was driving i started to hear another voice and that scared me at first but then when i listened to it, well what i normally try to block out, was the radio playing and i tryed to change it like 10 or 15 times and it was all christian music and  i couldnt find anything else, last time i drove to this same destination i found other channels, this time i could not and just let it play bc i was getting so distracted trying to change the channel i wasnt watching the road didnt think to much of it but i started not minding the music, later that night i had a conversation with someone, i never met, about God ironically, even stranger over nearly a 120 mile ride back i never changed that channel  and it kept playing that same music nearly the whole ride and there is no radio station with that long of frequency, what i had realized during the ride that sold me even more was that i had gotten in between 2 christian university buses when i nearly caused an accident trying to switch lanes bc of someone putting down their breaks that was when i decided i would call my grandma to see if i could stop over, and these were not all of these seemingly ironic things that had happened on this trip but ne i want thank God personally for helping me start to really change and when we meet it will be the first thing that i say bc i feel like i have been saved

[Dreamline]

Sometimes it helps me sometimes not.  Sometimes the stuff spinning through my mind would get so crazy, there was just no way.  I think cleaning and stuff is more of a hypomanic activity...I mean I worked in the garden last summer when I was bouncing off the walls manic but instead of being therapudic, it was chaotic.  I was out there in the 90+ temp speeding while pruning, watering, weeding etc....and intermitttenly cussing my dog, chasing him with a stake if he put one paw in the garden.  Then I'd go inside and work one of my "projects". 

[christian.156]

Karma yoga.

[chasemanzmum]

I believe it can be therapy. Just all depends on what you are cleaning though too.