Emotional support animals (pets who help people with disabilities without having special training) can reduce the need for drugs and other medical treatment, especially for people with pain or psychiatric disabilities. The U.S. government recognizes their value and requires they be allowed, without deposits or fees, in nearly all housing units in the country.
Sleep is so challenging for someone with bipolar and so important in managing bipolar disorder that John McManamy, a science writer and bipolar sufferer, has called bipolar disorder "a sleep disorder with mood symptoms." When I can't sleep properly my moods starts spiraling up into hypomania and when I'm suffering from hypomania I can't sleep properly. Due to past reactions to antidepressants, my hypomanic moods are usually combined with depression -- what are called mixed episodes in which suicide is a distinct danger. I avoid tranquilizers or sleeping pills, so what do I do when I can't sleep?
