Negativity? Depression? How to make a friendship with doom and gloom?

[rebeccaC]

I think I’ll always be a work in progress in letting my reactions and judgments lead me as a teacher to greater self-understanding. Perhaps that’s why I like Pema Chodron’s teachings at this point in my life.

When I begin to feel the negativity of a situation really bothering me one of my strategies is to think of it as teaching me to be still with the discomfort of that energy and challenging me to open to the situation with as much courage and kindness as I possibly can. I find that helps in controlling judgment and strengthening something positive in me rather than strengthening anger/resentment. As Pema writes…”we can live with a dissonant note, we don’t have to play the next key to end the tune”

If this thinking interests you, you may want to read Chodron’s When Things Fall Apart for a number of positive strategies in understanding the teaching opportunities of numerous situations.

[Crankin]

If her behavior was enough stress to cause a manic/hypomanic episode, then, RUN. You seem to have your stuff under control. One of the main treatments for Bipolar Disorder is just to be able to recognize the triggers of hypomania/mania, and avoid them, as well as recognizing the symptoms of an episode.
Have you done any work with Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction? It's a huge part of DBT, which I totally agree with and use with almost all of my clients with mood disorders. You might like it. Ask your therapist.
And, geez, I am glad she thinks I am the same as every other therapist . In fact, the comment I get from a lot of my clients, is that I am not!