Online Bipolar Disorder Treatment: Find Bipolar Recovery Today

If you have extreme and disruptive mood swings—from highs that feel like mania to lows that feel like depression—you may be experiencing bipolar disorder (formerly called “manic depression”).

During a low, you might feel so sad and hopeless that you lose interest in activities you would usually enjoy. You might have low energy, little motivation, disrupted or excessive sleep, a change in appetite, and a sense of self-loathing, guilt, or shame.

During a high, you may be full of energy, extremely euphoric, and have grandiose or even delusional ideas. You may be exceptionally funny or impulsive, spend money recklessly, be hypersexual, irritable, and overly argumentative.

You may also experience symptoms of mania and depression simultaneously.

We know the painful impact these ups and downs can have on your life and the very challenging internal state you cope with.

What is Bipolar Disorder?

Bipolar disorder, once called manic depression, is a mental health disorder that is characterized by extreme mood swings. These mood swings include both highs, or mania, and lows, or depression and also mixed states, in which aspects of both phases of the illness are experienced at the same time. 

During a low, a patient can feel sad, hopeless, and may lose interest in once pleasurable activities. During a high, a patient can experience an excess of  energy, extreme euphoria, and unusually high irritability, an increase in goal directed activities which can become out of context with what is realistically feasible.  This instability of mood can make a significant impact on a patient’s sleep, behavior, thinking ability, and judgement. These intense emotional responses are very different from a patient’s usual mood and behavior and can be very hard for everyone involved (the person, family, work and others) to understand and respond to. 

Types of Bipolar Disorder

There are a few types of bipolar disorder. Let’s explore:

Bipolar 1 Disorder

Bipolar 1 disorder is characterized one or more episodes of mania or mixed episodes consisting of mania and depression

Bipolar II Disorder

Bipolar II disorder is characterized by one or more major depressive episodes and at least one hypomania episodes. Hypomania is a less intense form of mania. 

Cyclothymia

Cyclothymia is characterized by alternating low levels of depression and periods of hypomania. Before a diagnosis can be made for cyclothymia, symptoms must be present for at least one year in children and two years in adults.

Rapid-Cycling Bipolar Disorder

Rapid-cycling bipolar disorder is a severe type of bipolar disorder. A patient with this type has at least four episodes of mania, hypomania, major depression, or mixed states in one calendar year.

Not Otherwise Specified Bipolar Disorder (NOS)

Not Otherwise Specified, or NOS, is a type of bipolar disorder that was created for patients who don’t clearly fit into one of the above types. Patients who experience Not Otherwise Specified Bipolar Disorder typically have fast changing mood swings that are too short to be classified as a true manic or depressive episode. It can also include patients who have more than one hypomanic episode without an episode of major depression.

Diagnosing  Bipolar Disorder

When a medical professional diagnoses bipolar disorder, their evaluation may include:

• Conducting a Physical Exam
• Performing a psychiatric assessment
• Charting a daily record of the patient’s mood, or mood charting
• Comparing the patient’s symptoms with the criteria for bipolar and other related disorders in the DSM-5 Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders

Bipolar disorder is often misdiagnosed. According to a 2006 study, around 69% of all cases are not diagnosed properly.

Bipolar Disorder Levels of Care

Outside of the primary care setting, there are a few levels of care available to individuals with eating disorders. Let’s review binge eating disorder treatment options:

Outpatient

• Often where the treatment process begins
• Patient lives at home and attends hourly sessions at their providers’ offices
• Appropriate for patients who are medically stable, motivated, self-sufficient, and have adequate support and structure at home

Intensive Outpatient

• Typically occurs in a specialized setting (e.g., a clinic or hospital)
• Patients live at home and attend sessions three to five times a week that last approximately three hours each
• Program may include numerous types of therapy, including, but not limited to, individual, group, and counseling
• Appropriate for patients who are medically stable, self-sufficient, and have adequate support and structure at home, but may need some degree of external structure beyond self-control

Partial Hospitalization (Full-Day Outpatient Care)

• Occurs in a specialized setting and can be connected to a hospital program or a free-standing facility
• Patient requires a high level of supervision and monitoring
• Patient must be able to demonstrate some ability to retain the gains made in treatment without 24-hour monitoring
• Patient must not be a suicide risk or medically compromised to the point of requiring hospitalization
• Patient must have sufficient resources and motivation to attend program
• Patient’s home or living environment must be one that can be supportive of the recovery process
• Wide variety in quality of programming and hours of available treatment across programs, making it critical that patient’s needs and circumstances are appropriate for this level of care
• Care is typically 5– 12 hours per day, 4– 7 days per week.

Residential Treatment Center

• Highly specialized programs that can be operated independent of hospital setting, but sometimes connected to a hospital setting
• Indicated when patient is not able to retain gains without 24-hour monitoring
• May be indicated when severity of symptoms necessitates constant monitoring in order to initiate and sustain symptom-free behavior and normalized eating
• May be indicated for patients whose activities of daily living are compromised by the disorder May be indicated for the development of a normalized, healthy lifestyle conducive to long-term health and well being
• May include specialized approaches that help the patient develop routines and activities of daily living that create patterns of behavior that are conducive to recovery
• Useful in situations with a high degree of psychiatric comorbidity that require intensified focus during treatment
• Sometimes indicated on the basis of a lack of supportive and safe environment where the patient can be expected be able to make meaningful, retainable progress
• May be appropriate when patient is overwhelmed with symptoms and unable to refrain from reverting to symptoms or other behaviors that compromise their well being when alone
• Appropriate for patients with either lower or higher levels of motivation, but generally patients must enter treatment voluntarily

Inpatient Hospitalization

• Generally used for a period of short-term stabilization proceeding initiation of treatment at lower levels of care
• Indicated in situation where patient is a suicide risk or gravely disabled by symptoms and unable to participate in residential or lower levels of care due to presenting symptoms, which may include depression, poor motivation, poor insight, and/ or other factors that limit ability to meaningfully participate in lower levels of care
• Appropriate in situations where hospital-based medical care is indicated (i.e., IV lines or other more invasive medical treatments are needed)

Bipolar Disorder Treatment Options

A person should be treated by medical professionals who specialize in diagnosing and treating mental health conditions who has experience treating bipolar disorder and other similar mental health disorders. Some treatment options include:

• Medications - Medications can be given to patients to start balancing their moods.
• Psychotherapy - Psychotherapy is an important part of treating bipolar disorder. It can be offered to both the patient and their family.
• Day Treatment Programs and Residential Programs:  Day treatment programs and residential programs provide more support and counseling help to you while they get their symptoms under control. In Day treatment programs the person may participate in several hours of counseling, group support, support around activities of daily living.  In Residential Care, services are provided 24/7; residential care provides the structure and safety needed while intensive treatment is provided in a healing environment. 
• Continued Treatment - Continued treatment is required for a person suffering from bipolar disorder because it is a lifelong disorder. 
• Substance Abuse Treatment - In some cases you may be struggling with drugs or alcohol and need to be treated for their substance abuse before being treated for their bipolar disorder.
• Hospitalization - You may need hospitalization if they start behaving dangerously to themselves or others. They may also need hospitalization if they become psychotic. It can be frightening to patients and their families to accept this need for this higher level of care.  It is important to reach out for this support, recognize that it is temporary in nature, realizing that this time limited support is essential in some instances. 

Common Questions to Ask When You Suspect Bipolar Disorder

Here are a few common questions you can ask if you suspect that you have bipolar disorder:

• Are you experiencing changes in your mood?
• How frequently do your moods change?
• When you’re feeling sad or depressed, do you have suicidal thoughts?
• Do any of your relatives have bipolar disorder?
• Are you aware of any mental or physical health conditions you have?
• How often do you sleep at night and does it change regularly?
• Do you do any drugs or drink alcohol?
• Have you made any unnecessary risks recently, such as purchasing something or having unsafe sex?
• What are some things you do that make your symptoms seem worse?
• What are some things you do that make your symptoms seem better?

Finding Bipolar Disorder Recovery

If you think you or a loved one needs bipolar disorder disorder treatment, you’ve come to the right place. The first step to bipolar disorder recovery is acknowledging you need help and then seeking help. 

Like many with bipolar disorder, you may have tried to self-medicate, using substances or alcohol to help modulate your intense emotional experience—you may have also discovered how this can backfire by creating even more challenges. 

The good news we want you to know is, if you struggle with a bipolar condition, there is a pathway to heal. 

People with this condition are generally highly creative, highly intelligent, and often have a great sense of humor.

Those qualities have undoubtedly helped you find the unique coping skills and strategies that have gotten you through life up to now.

We’re here to provide expert, compassionate care that helps you channel those qualities toward successfully building a life you find much more manageable and meaningful.  

Get Online Bipolar Disorder Treatment

My name is Wendy Oliver-Pyatt, I am a consultant psychiatrist in Miami, Florida. I believe that compassion, when directed towards self and others, can lead to profound health and healing. If you need online bipolar disorder treatment, I can help! I have created a unique treatment model in which you will have the  opportunity to work with providers who I specifically refer to based on your current experience, diagnosis and needs.  I build this team around you and will coordinate your care with the goal to find meaning in your experience, and free you of your symptoms so that you can feel more at peace, and have greater capacity to adapt to life circumstances, to challenge yourself, to be creative, to develop intimacy and to have a fulfilling lifestyle With more than 20 years of clinical experience and a vast network of clinical partners, I’ve developed a unique treatment approach that delves into the underlying issues that place a person at risk for mental health conditions.  Together we will create a protocol and treatment plan that is well coordinated, and that can guide you on your healing process, toward health and inner peace. Contact me today!