Living with Bipolar Disorder

By: Lina Smith

It is never easy living with an illness, especially one that can be hard to manage at the best of time and bipolar disorder is such an illness. Bipolar disorder affects the mood of a sufferer to such an extent that living a ‘normal’ life can become virtually impossible. Some of the characteristics of bipolar disorder are that a person with it will have episodes of incredibly intense ‘highs’ or elevated happiness and at times these episodes can result in mania and extreme behaviours. At the opposite end of the scale a person with bipolar disorder will also suffer from extreme ‘lows’ where they are swallowed by feelings of depression, guilt, anxiety and may even have suicidal thoughts.

When a person’s mood swings between these two opposites it can make living with bipolar disorder very hard to cope with. In many cases the sufferer feels as though they are the only person who has to live with bipolar disorder and this can be a trigger in itself. It is at these times when it is useful for someone with bipolar disorder to have someone to discuss their feelings with.

Often there are also, in between these episodes of feeling high and low the person with bipolar disorder can feel very normal and often it is these times that can cause the most problems. It is at these times when a bipolar disorder sufferer can start to think that they can manage their condition without the need for medication – and some will stop taking what has been prescribed to them. This is very dangerous as this can be the trigger for an episode and without mood stabilising medication the high or low experienced can be incredibly intense and difficult to deal with effectively and safely.

Another very useful treatment which is used in addition to medication is psychosocial therapy sessions. These can take the form of cognitive behavioural therapy sessions where the therapist and the patient try to identify ‘triggers’ to a bipolar episode and work on ways to overcome and avoid them. Or they can be family behavioural therapy sessions in which the person with bipolar disorder and the people they live attend and try to work out coping strategies for everyone. This type of treatment can be massively successful when there are other people involved as often they are able to identify when a bipolar disorder sufferer is about to have an episode and can then act accordingly.

One thing is for certain, living with bipolar disorder is not easy – but it is more achievable than you might think. As long as a person’s bipolar disorder is kept under control with the correct medication, and any emotional triggers are identified and avoided there is no reason why life cannot continue as normal. Problems occur however when the medication is not taken and the person with bipolar disorder has an additional problem with alcohol or stimulants, both of which can play a large part in the illness and should be avoided.

About the Author

Online Bipolar Support provides useful

information about bipolar disorder or

bipolar depression, four different types, bipolar symptoms and bipolar treatment.

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