Ok, more than a few of you will have looked at this title and said ‘Huh?’ So, allow me to explain myself. ‘Spoon theory’ is one woman’s attempt to describe the experience of living with hidden illnesses and disabilities – in her case, Lupus. But the theory can be just as easily be applied to mental illnesses.Christine Miserando, owner of www.butyoudon’tlooksick.com came up with Spoon Theory in response to her friend asking her what it was like to be sick. Feeling frustrated about how to get her point across, she suddenly came up with an idea. They were in a cafe, so Christine went and grabbed every spoon she could find, and gave them to her friend. She explained that the spoons represented the limited amount of energy that she had each day to do the things she wanted to do, and each activity had a certain cost in ‘spoons’. For instance, having a bath, or even just getting out of bed, might cost a spoon - or two. I’m sure we can all relate to this if we think of the days when we are depressed. Once you have spent your ‘spoons’, they are gone. When I am depressed, I have to make choices about what I want to get done with the energy I have. I can go to the shops, or have a bath, but I might not have enough energy or motivation to do both. I might have to prioritise household tasks – I have to put out the rubbish, but washing the dishes might have to wait.
Some spoons, yesterday
It might be possible for me to ‘borrow’ spoons, but that will leave me with less spoons tomorrow, and if I continually borrow spoons, pushing myself too hard, eventually I will grind to a complete halt. When I am feeling ‘buoyant’ and very optimistic I may have more spoons than usual, due to the increase in energy. But if my mood escalates towards hypomania, I may suddenly feel as if I have an unlimited spoon supply! But they turn out to be made of flimsy plastic, and borrowed against the future – so I soon find myself coming back down again. My moods are fairly well controlled these days – finding the right medication(s) helps enormously – so I don’t have far to fall and I don’t stay ‘up’ very long. I still have to continually strive to manage my energy and motivation. If I am depressed, it helps to do as much as I can without tiring myself too much. If I am feeling high, I need to slow down a little and not act as if I have unlimited ‘spoons’. I call this ‘Spoon Optimising’ !
The Spoon Theory is just one way of describing an aspect of managing Bipolar disorder – there are many others. Maureen, Claire and Jean raised money a while ago to help fund a self management course in Darlington, and Claire is trained to facilitate such a course. We are looking at ways of bringing this course to Darlington – fund raising ideas etc. are most welcome.
Leave a comment
Comments feed for this article