Chronotherapy to Entrepreneurialism – Coping Strategies for Living with Bipolar Disorder

For those with life-long illnesses such as bipolar disorder, coping strategies are vital for achieving and maintaining stability. However, Dr. Charles Raison, a Psychiatrist at Emory University Medical School, hits the nail on the head when he comments that "bipolar disorder is too difficult to succumb to any single type of 'magic bullet.'" And this is why we see coping strategies as varied and different as the individuals who have this disorder.
Dr. Raison discusses the pros and difficulties of keeping a routine to help control bipolar symptoms. "I have personally had great luck with using routines (or more formally chronotherapy) to help people with bipolar disorder. One of the sickest patients I ever cared for was able to completely turn her life around by committing deeply to establishing very strict routines that helped stabilize her sleep."

Margaux Salcedo, with Sunday Inquirer Magazine, reports that Jetro, owner of the Van Gogh is Bipolar restaurant in Quezon City in the Philippines, has found his solution in food. "Diagnosed as being bipolar since he was young and having experienced medication that made him feel worse, he began experimenting with his diet, cooking with ingredients that made him happy and avoiding food that would lead him to spiral into depression." He has taken his coping strategy and turned it into his business.

His menu is comprised of cuisine named after celebrities who have bipolar disorder. There is an Axl Rose Egg Shot, a Sting Hot Cherry Potato and Larry Flynt's Cabbage Experience. And of course, Van Gogh rice.

Do you have any solid or unique coping strategies for living with bipolar disorder? ~Kimberly
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