How To Treat A Bipolar Person

Bipolar disorder is a Mental illness that affects the mechanisms that regulate mood and behavior. Origina major mood changes, from profound unhappiness to a state of intense euphoria, or to mixed states in which excitement is mixed with feelings of sadness. From psychology and psychiatry we talk about manic or hypomanic episodes, depressive episodes and mixed episodes.

How to diagnose bipolar disorder in adults

There are different manifestations or types of bipolar disorder and they differ in the intensity and frequency of depressive and manic or hypomanic episodes. To correctly diagnose bipolar disorder, it is important that these episodes have a certain duration and persistence in the person. This diagnosis can only be made by a health professional (specialized psychologist or psychiatrist).

Although living with a person who suffers from bipolar disorder can be complicated, there are some attitudes and behaviors that can help both the patient and those around them:

Acceptance

One of the most important steps in knowing how to treat a bipolar person and improve their quality of life is to help them recognize and accept their illness.

Knowledge

The more you know about the disease, the better prepared you will all be to control it. In this other article we show you how a bipolar person acts in love.

Empathy

It is important to know him/her well and put yourself in his/her place to be able to empathize and make him/her feel comfortable.

Out of guilt

Bipolar disorder occurs when something goes wrong in the brain. No one should feel guilty because It is nobody’s fault.

Support

Feeling supported can help you maintain its stability. If you are one of the main sources of support, you have an important role since sometimes how he feels will depend on how you feel.

Communication

Always keep communication, even during periods of difficult behavior. They won’t always appreciate it, but they probably will in the future. It is also good to maintain active listening, the simple fact that you can have a person listening to you will make you feel better.

Self-care

Do not take responsibility for his life, it is one thing to live together and help and another to live taking responsibility for his life. Accompany him but encourage him to be the one who learns to cope in order to face his life. Help your loved one live as autonomously as possible. It is important to take care of yourself, we must know where our limits are and rest. Living together and trying to help all day can be exhausting. Find time to get away from time to time and take care of your own needs.

If you need more guidelines to help a bipolar friend or partner, you should take note of the advice we offer below:

• PLANNING. Make a plan in advance with the person suffering from the illness so that you both know how to act in times of crisis. You can also help him organize his life with calendars, journals, and other support tools to maintain some regularity.
• ROUTINE Regularity in sleeping habits, activities and eating habits is essential to reduce vulnerability to relapses.
• EXERCISE. Practice exercise with him/her, it is highly recommended for the mental and physical health of anyone.
• DECISION MAKING Impatience and impulsivity are characteristics of people who suffer from bipolar disorder. Don’t rush when making a decision. It can wait. You have to think things through.
• FRIENDSHIP Help him/her take care of his/her friendships. The tendency to isolate is one of the most harmful symptoms of bipolar disorder. As Baruch Spinoza said “Nothing is more useful to a human being than another human being.”.
• MEDICATION Supervises, without overwhelming, the correct administration of medication. Taking medication is very important to control the disease.
• HOPE If you find yourself in a bad moment, the most important thing is not to lose hope. Bipolar disorder affects millions of people and the majority manage to control the disease.

Here are some tips to avoid situations that could aggravate your condition:

• Try not to sleep more than 9 hours.
• Look out don’t self-medicate.
• Encourage physical activities or activities that you like.
• Avoid phrases like “cheer up,” “make that face happy,” “it’s nothing…” as they can be counterproductive. They can make you feel worse, since many of the symptoms do not depend on the person’s will.
• Get in touch with your reference psychiatrist.

As we have mentioned previously, the manic episode is characterized by an exaggeratedly high mood, a feeling of euphoria, inflated self-esteem, lack of sleep and hyperactivity. In order to treat a bipolar person if they are going through a manic episode, you can help yourself with these tips:

• Increase the number of hours of sleep.
• Limit the number of activities. The more activities you do, the more euphoric you will be.
• Avoid arguments
• Do not reason with him/her. Can distract your focus doing an activity together.
• Reduce mental stress through relaxation exercises.
• Avoid the consumption of stimulants like coffee or tea.
• Contact your referral psychiatrist.

This article is merely informative, at PsychologyFor we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.

If you want to read more articles similar to How to treat a bipolar person we recommend that you enter our Clinical Psychology category.