This can help with...
- managing your moods when you have bipolar disorder
- understanding the types of treatment used to treat bipolar disorder
- finding out more about bipolar disorder treatment plans
Why treatment plans are helpful
When bipolar disorder is not properly managed it can interfere really badly with your life. Finding effective ways to manage bipolar symptoms is extremely hard to do on your own. Bipolar disorder does require long term management and treatment under the advice of doctors, but the good news is that it’s treatable. Proper management of bipolar disorder will make things much easier for you, and there are a lot of people who are already leading full and productive lives with bipolar disorder.
How to treat bipolar disorder
If you’ve been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, there are a few things you need to be aware of:
- Everyone’s experience of bipolar disorder is different, so how it is managed and treated is different for everyone
- Bipolar disorder can require long term treatment, so ongoing care by doctors is crucial to helping you manage your symptoms
- Therapies and counselling are usually ineffective on their own, but are really useful if they are used with medication
- There are often multiple types of medication to treat different mood changes.
If this all sounds a bit overwhelming, it’s important to know that you won’t be doing this alone. Working closely with doctors to manage your symptoms will make living your life much easier. While it will be different for everyone, some of the treatments may include:
- Medication. Mood stabilisers, anti-psychotics and antidepressants can all be used to manage bipolar disorder. Check out the Black Dog Institute for more info. Most people are referred to a psychiatrist (see the Psychiatrist fact sheet) for medical treatment. Sticking to your medication plan is really important to your stability.
- Counselling/Therapy. In most situations you’ll be referred to a psychologist, counsellor or mental health worker to help you manage day to day life. They’ll provide helpful strategies and therapies.
If your treatment plan isn’t working
Sometimes it can take a little bit of time to work out a treatment plan that is right for you. If this is the case, or if you haven’t been sticking to your treatment plan, your mood swings may get too difficult to manage.
To keep safe and to provide you the best possible support, you could be admitted to hospital during more extreme episodes of mania and depression.