Living with bipolar disorder can feel like navigating a stormy sea. One day, you’re riding a wave of energy, bursting with ideas and confidence. The next, you’re sinking into a fog of sadness and hopelessness. If this sounds familiar, know that you’re not alone—and most importantly, you’re not powerless. From the high of a manic episode to the low of a depressive episode, these shifts can be exhausting. Finding the right treatments can be challenging and take some time, but it is possible. Treatment options include medications and different types of therapy, as well as lifestyle changes and support systems. So, what medications are used? How does therapy help? Let’s talk about it!
Why Does Treatment Matter?
Before we dive into specifics, let’s talk about why treatment matters. Bipolar disorder is more than just mood swings. It is an imbalance of important chemicals in our brains called neurotransmitters. These imbalances can be the result of a wide variety of factors, including genetics, trauma, stress, our environment, or lifestyle. These imbalances cause our mood to fluctuate, giving us the characteristic manic and depressive episodes of bipolar disorder.
However, these fluctuations also impact far more than just our mood. They impact our sleep schedule, energy levels, and many other aspects of our day-to-day lives. As we mentioned earlier, this looks different for everyone. Some people have more manic episodes, while others tend to have more depressive episodes. This means that treatments plans must be individually tailored to each person’s unique situation.
Medications:
We get it, nobody likes the idea of taking medication everyday. However, imagine the toolbox you have in your garage. How much would you be able to do with that toolbox if it only had a hammer in it? Or a screwdriver? Medication is one of the many tools that we carry around in our mental health toolbox. There’s a lot of other tools in there, but they wouldn’t work very well by themselves. By using all of the tools together, we can accomplish a lot more than if we use one tool by itself.
We use medication to help stabilize the chemical imbalances we talked about earlier. This helps even out the ups and downs. Of course, medications aren’t magic. They work best when used alongside the other tools in our toolbox- therapy, lifestyle, self-care, to name a few. But what kinds of medications are used?
Mood Stabilizers:
Medications like lithium and lamotrigine, are used to help reduce mood swings of extreme highs to extreme lows.
Antimanic Agents:
Valproate (valproic acid) and quetiapine are used to help manage manic episodes, but can also be used as maintenance therapy.
Other Atypical Antipsychotic Medications:
For those who do not respond well to the medications listed above there are other options. These include medications such as aripiprazole, olanzapine, and risperidone.
What About Side Effects?:
As with any medication that we take, there is a risk for side effects. Some of the more common side effects include:
- Nausea and vomiting
- Decreased appetite or weight gain
- Fatigue
- Rashes
It is also important to mention to your provider if you are pregnant or plan to get pregnant in the near future. Some of these medications are not safe to take during pregnancy and your provider can help you navigate that.
Therapy:
We’ve talked about medications so far, but what about therapy? There are a variety of different therapy models that are helpful in managing bipolar disorder. These include Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Interpersonal and Social Rhythm Therapy (IPSRT), and Family-Focused Therapy (FFT), as well as many others. What do each of those look like, and how do you decide which is the right one for you? Let’s take a look:
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy:
CBT focuses on improving the relationships between a person’s thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. The goal is to identify and change thought patterns that fuel depressive or manic episodes.
Interpersonal and Social Rhythm Therapy:
The main goal of IPSRT is to establish daily routines or schedules in a way that promotes mood stability. This therapy model also focuses on working through potential life situations, such as areas where interpersonal conflicts may arise or where stress may be elevated, to prevent those situations from becoming triggers in the future.
Family-Focused Therapy:
Unlike CBT and IPSRT, FFT is not an individual therapy model. Instead, it involves important family members and support persons in the therapy process. This may mean parents, significant others, siblings, roommates, or friends. FFT provides a space for these individuals to learn about bipolar disorder, such as symptoms, causes, triggers, etc., and eventually teaches communication and problem solving skills for all who are involved in FFT.
Lifestyle Changes:
Sometimes, the smallest changes can make the biggest impacts. Little lifestyle changes are an important part of any treatment plan, such as:
-Prioritizing a regular sleep schedule
-Staying active
-Eating a balanced diet
-Practicing self-care
Support Systems:
Bipolar disorder can feel very isolating. Having a strong social support network can make a world of difference. There are local or online support groups that give you the opportunity to meet others who understand your experiences and can provide support when you need it. Loved ones are also an important aspect of support. By educating them on bipolar disorder, you can give them the tools to better understand your experiences and support you along the way.
Organizations such as National Alliance on Mental Illness or the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance can help you find support groups nearby Flint, Michigan, as well as other resources for you and your support system.
What Next?
Like we talked about earlier, the most effective toolbox is the one with all the tools in it. By combining medications, therapy, lifestyle changes, support systems, and many other treatment methods, we can take advantage of all of our tools to create the most effective treatment plan designed uniquely for you.
Our team of advanced clinicians at The Traini Counseling Group are here to walk this journey with you. We can help you figure out what treatment models work best for you and answer all of your questions. Located in Flint, Michigan, we offer individual or group counseling, as well as medication management and GeneSight® Genetic Medication Testing. Please reach out to us here or at (810)-379-9251 to see how we can support you on your journey.