5 Ways Meditation May Be The Cure For Bipolar Disorder

, by Unknown

In the last decade, medical science has discovered something already well known within many cultures: meditation can be a potent part of any holistic healing program for people with bipolar disorder. 



 
A serious and complicated psychological and emotional disease, bipolar disorder sufferers are going through much more than just “mood swings.” The shifts from “mania” to “depression” are dramatic and make it difficult to live a normal life. Here are 5 reasons meditation can neutralize bipolar disorder.

1. Meditation equalizes everything, including unbalanced moods. Bipolar patients who introduce meditation to their daily routine see a greater sense of peace and a leveling of their moods for at least several hours after each meditation session. Eventually, meditation leads to an overall higher state of mental awareness all the time, never getting too high or too low, constantly maintaining a well balanced, yet advanced state of mind. 


2. Meditation boosts the very same neurotransmitters that bipolar medications do. Insufficient serotonin, dopamine, & GABA, all super important brain chemicals, greatly impact mood & overall mental health. It may come as no surprise that bipolar medications, SSRIs, work to increase all of these mood elevating chemicals. No need to pop a pill when meditation will normalize all of the above. 

3. Meditation makes you a witness to your thoughts. The fluctuations of the mind do not emotionally affect those while in a state of meditation, nor while outside of meditation — for the skilled practitioner. Once the meditator’s mind becomes naturally detached, in a healthy and good way, he/she does not attach to any particular state, whether high or low. Meditation puts you in the driver seat of your mind. 


4. Meditation activates the brain’s CEO: the prefrontal cortex. You can think of the prefrontal cortex as the control center of the brain, with executive functions such as knowing right from wrong, good and bad, outcome of actions, and overall orchestration of thoughts. Of particular significance, this brain region has a major affect on personality disorders, namely depression. Studies conclude that meditation healthfully boosts this brain region, effectively smoothing out the manic, while deactivating the depression. 

5. Meditation can bring a normal life to a bipolar sufferer. Once the practice of meditation becomes habitual, the bipolar patient will develop an internal set of skills, such as moving from a state of confusion and anxiety to one of peace and inner calm. Meditation may be the closest thing to a cure for bipolar disorder, leaving an ordinary life within reach. 

In all cases, meditation brings tremendous benefit to the bipolar patient, and can be used along with prescriptions or other therapies — at no risk. 

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