Following a routine works best for most people, especially when it comes to sleep. Maintaining a good sleep pattern helps stabilize bipolar moods. Yet when my brain refuses to shut down, I don't sleep. Rarely are the thoughts important. More often they're pieces of several topics swirling in my brain until they create chaos and sleep is no longer an option.

Sleep--or the lack of sleep--is not healthy. I know that. Even as I miss countless nights of sleep, I realize how it affects the bipolar.