Bipolar and appearance

I read an article today stating that your eyes are more dazzling when manic. https://www.bphope.com/blog/your-eyes-hold-the-clues-how-to-read-the-eyes-to-spot-euphoric-and-dysphoric-bipolar-disorder-mania/
That seems to be true for me too. When I am manic people look at me and smile at me all the time. They start conversations with me out of nowhere, and I talk to them out of nowhere too. It is a full connective experience. However, it ends up strongly infringing on people's boundaries. People have even said they felt very connected to me during those states. So it is a loss, not being willing to go there. Maybe it is possible to be sane and also have the connectedness of the mania, but who knows? I suspect it's possible. One thing I'll say is that even while in samsaric, boring day-to-day life it is good to shave, get an occasional haircut, shower every day, and wear decent clothes.

I recommend the kind of unwanted self-care that people are too lazy to do, to anyone with mental illness. Sure, people even without bipolar enjoy sitting around eating pizza and playing video games. As I say a lot, though, it's not a game for us. We can't be lazy about our self-care because our lives depend on it. So it's important to shave every day, to shower every day, to exercise regularly, and to eat a little healthier than you usually would.

Attempting to Perfectly Manage Bipolar

I am working on staying busy. I saw an article by a prominent bipolar author saying this is not the secret to success. I am starting to disagree, but it depends on your issues. My issue with stagnation is psychomotor agitation. I can handle this by having a very strict to-do list where I find things that inspire behavior. However, I do not mean disrespect toward the author who said that. I just think we can move beyond our disorder and really thrive.

If you have a routine, I think that working hard is very helpful. It's not just that you should frantically run around doing stuff. Instead, it's good to have a plan and then do what you say you were going to do. That builds confidence. It's an age-old tactic.

Attempting the Absurd: Perfectly Managing Bipolar. Personal hygiene

I've always been very laid back about my hygiene. I would shower every day and brush my teeth twice a day. I would wear deodorant. However, I would also not clean my room, I would not do my laundry until I had absolutely no clean clothes left, and I would wear wrinkled clothes. Taking pride in my appearance seems to be a key step in managing bipolar. I recognize that wearing outlandish clothing could be a fashion statement, but it is not so for me. Why? It is not a game anymore. After going insane several times, the risks are too high. It's OK to be normal. It's OK to be a conformist. I never really will be bland anyway. So I might as well try my best to take pride in my appearance. It's a good thing to shave every day if you can. All of these things help to build motivation and self esteem. The self esteem built here might not be the secure self esteem of feeling unconditional love, but even what social psychologists call "insecure self-esteem" does have its place. Being presentable is worthwhile just to recover from what is no longer a game. It is serious now. Don't go crazy.

I think most people with mental illness could follow this self-care tip and it would be helpful. I've seen it written about elsewhere.

https://www.bphope.com/blog/are-you-taking-care-of-your-hygiene-during-bipolar-mood-swings/

Good luck.