Candida Fink

To manage bipolar disorder effectively, you first need to know what it is. Then you can develop and follow a treatment plan, which usually includes a combination of medication, therapy, self-help, and support from a network of understanding and committed friends and family members.This Cheat Sheet can help you get up to speed on the basics of bipolar disorder in a hurry.

When you love a person with bipolar disorder and want to support him or her, you will get a lot of suggestions from a lot of sources, some of which are more reliable than others. This article presents advice you can count on: seven ways to help a loved one with bipolar while retaining your own composure.These ideas have evolved from medical research and practice, along with personal stories and experience, and they can be powerful tools.

Bipolar disorder and borderline personality disorder often share many of the same symptoms — mood shifts, emotion dysregulation, impulsivity. Prior to settling on a diagnosis of bipolar disorder, your doctor should consider borderline personality disorder, among other conditions with symptoms that overlap with those of bipolar disorder.

When choosing whether to take the name-brand or generic version of a medication for bipolar disorder, you and your doctor may want to consider the possible differences.Many people wonder whether name-brand medications are any better or even any different from their generic equivalents. Although the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulates both name-brand and generic medications, how those regulations apply to generic medications can lead to differences in how effective the medication is and in the side effects it causes, even when the generic has the same amount of the same active ingredient(s) as the name-brand version.

When you have bipolar disorder, you're encouraged to chart your moods, sleep, and energy levels daily to record patterns that may help you spot the early warning signs of a developing mood episode (mania or depression). In addition, this log provides valuable information to guide your doctor and therapist in their treatment decisions.

acute: Relatively short but severe, as in an acute mood episode.adjunctive: Complementary to the main treatment.affective disorder: A category of psychiatric disorders that includes depression, bipolar disorder, and seasonal affective disorder (SAD). Affect is a medical term for mood.akathisia: Severe restlessness, a possible side effect of certain medications, especially some antipsychotics.

People often have a different idea of what the term recovery means to them in relation to bipolar disorder. Some think of it as no longer needing to take medication or see a doctor or therapist. Others may think of it as regaining control of their lives with medication, therapy, lifestyle changes, and/or other approaches.

People with bipolar disorder and their loved ones often have a great sense of humor, perhaps because they tend to be smarter than average or because bipolar disorder creates situations that appear to have been written for the theater of the absurd. Here are a few of the absurdities that can leave you shaking your head or shaking in laughter: During a hypomanic episode, you have inflated self-esteem, increased energy, decreased need for sleep, increased creativity, and increased goal-directed activity.

If a loved one has bipolar disorder, you're probably wondering what you can do to help. Although your loved one ultimately decides what your level of involvement will be, the two of you may want to consider the following ways you can help: Get educated. Knowing what your loved one is dealing with leads to understanding and empathy, which are essential to becoming an effective support person.