Help!

I have bipolar disorder and im 16 and i cant concentrate whatsoever. i cant focus and i dont know what to do. i get so frustrated because i used to be an A student with a 4.3 GPA but not anymore because i cant get any hw done whatsoever. i feel like my mind is racing with a million thoughts and then i freak out get upset and get nothing done. does anyone else experience this too? and what should i do?

[Xila31]

Yes, I have this problem, too. Although my problem started later in life. I'm 30. When I was 16 it wasn't that I couldn't concentrate, I was just a procrastinator. Doing everything at the last minute.

Now, though, I can't concentrate at work. It makes it really hard to get anything done. I not only have trouble concentrating, but I have trouble remembering things I need to do. I also find myself getting very confused and unable to do things that are normally easy, (like alphebetizing, spelling, dialing phone numbers, etc.) It is very, very frustrating and upsetting.

Like you I have racing thoughts that disrupt what I'm doing. A lot of my thoughts are repetitive, so I get stuck in one place going in circles. My thoughts also become upsetting and that doesn't help.

What I'm noticing is my medicine does help. I am trying to find stability and I think the medicine is the key to this. I am not in talk-therapy right now, but I bet that might help, too. I would say if you're school work is suffering to contact your psyciatrist and see if you need a medication adjustment. Otherwise, I'm not sure what you can do. Once I get stuck in a cycle I can't seem to get out by myself until it goes away on it's own. :(

[sodapop915]

there r loads of people with that dis order it sound like u hav bipoplar go see a doc so he can help u get into therapy n get meds u will feel better even if u just talk 2 someone

[BeeHammeren]

Hey i to have bipolar disorder, and i have the same issues as you. If your arent on meds you should consider taking them, however I didnt like taking the lithium based meds for i found myself feelin off, and different, kind of numb in a sense. if you are not on meds and dont want to do a litium based medication you could sugest to your therapist that you try just a basic anti anxiety and anti deppressant for me it just takes the edge off just enough that i can still function. however i have also been diagnosed with OCD so the meds might affect you differently than they did me.

anyway if you are on meds, try diverting ur "racing thoughts" to something else, or try doin something physical while your thoughts are racing...i know it sounds wierd, but sometimes when i was in class and i was having a really hard time focusing i would chew gum...alot of gum... and would try to conect at least one of the thoughts that are goin through my mind to what i was being taught, wether it conects because it rhymes, or because it is similar in nature, what ever you have to due to try to control that train of a zillion thoughts you are having. i know its hard, but the best way to get control over the racing thoughts are practice and patience. dont let yourself get too caught up in everything, take things one step at a time, and if your feeling overwhelmed take a second to calm yourself down and distract yourself from what ever it is that is getting you worked up....I know it sounds impossible, but i promiss its not, just give your self time

...it sounds like you were diagnosed more recently with BPD and it will naturally take you time to get used to life with the disorder, and eventually you will be able to gain at least some control over the urges, and impulses and racing thoughts...and eventually you will prob. develope a ritual or patern of the way you run your life through out the day, which may or may not make it easier for you. but its worth a try to plan out your days and how your going to go about things the best you can because we people with BPD need more structure and less drama in our lives. also maybe later in the day when you are not too overwhelmed and are calmed down, try to look back to some of the "racing thoughts" you were having and figuring out if they were practical or not. Like for instance if you are having tons of thoughts about issues with friends and then school work, and then just random things, write down the things you can actually do something about or the things that are practical and not just jiberish going off in your head, then figure out what you can do about those things or what your can do to make them better or go away and try to let everything else go...one thing i find myself having a problem with is worrying about things i cannot control, witch is basically a huge part of the BPD is lack of control, so we try to make up for it by insisting on controlling everything around us and obsessing about things that we have no control over. just dont sweat the small stuff. If you failed a math assignment and your best friend is sleepin with your ex, let it go because there probably isnt much you can do about, just like there isnt anything you can do to make you BPD go away so embrace it and try to live with it the best way you can.

sorry if this wasnt much help, but at least hopefully it will give you hope that eventually your BPD will be a little bit easier to control and live with.