Photo by Canva Studio from Pexels

Having a positive routine is crucial for people who have bipolar disorder to maintain a positive life. When Covid-19 hit Calgary and in-person contact became limited there was a good possibility that I could have become acutely ill. My routine keeps me active, connected to people and generally happy and motivated to take care of myself. I have been ok so far and I believe it is because of our ability as human beings to adapt to adverse circumstances.

I facilitate a peer support group for people with bipolar disorder at an agency called OBAD. When it was determined it was no longer safe to meet in person our meetings were cancelled temporarily. Then, our executive director, Kaj Korvela, learned how to get our meetings on zoom. At first, I was skeptical that online meetings were going to be effective, but our members have been able to find emotional connection with each other despite the change.  

I am no longer able to do my volunteer job because of Covid-19. This creates a certain angst for me because regularly helping people and being in contact with the positive staff helps me stay well. My psychiatrist proposed the idea that I teach myself crochet to get by until the pandemic is over. Learning this craft has allowed me to have a positive focus for my attention and it helps me stay in the present moment.

I attend a club that teaches you how to improve your public speaking skills called Toastmasters. When we were no longer able to meet in person our club learned how to do our meetings via zoom. We have had to learn new skills like having proper lighting, maintaining eye contact with the camera, and keeping our gestures visible to our virtual audience.  

None of this seems particularly impressive now. We have all become accustomed to it and we have an expectation that some activities and services should be available online. However, if someone told me in 2019 that my support group, toastmasters club and doctors appointments would all be online I would have had a hard time believing it. We have all learned to change our behaviour and expectations to get through this difficult time.

I wonder if we have not used our greatest strength to its potential. We clearly have a tremendous capacity to learn new skills to adapt to change. Problem solving techniques I am aware of are based on brainstorming and trouble shooting. What if we added, “Learning” to the list? What if we challenged ourselves to ask, “What can we learn to solve this problem?” I think it could empower us to find more thoughtful and creative solutions and improve our quality of life.

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