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Bipolar disorder: understanding your treatment options

Updated on October 25, 2024

For some bipolar disorder patients, treatment is a journey explored over time.

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Transcript

00:00
I felt like for a really long time when it came to treatment I was a diagnosis and not an individual.
00:07
[MUSIC PLAYING]
00:16
JEN CAUDLE: You know, Dr. Sportelli, I'd love it if you could talk a little bit about treatment options, and just sort of walk us through what some of the options are and how they range.
00:24
When someone's in acute mania, we need to slow that down. And we do have some psychopharmacology ways
00:31
to do that, and pretty much the gold standard at this point is a mood stabilizer. The other option would be a group of medications
00:39
called antipsychotics. And I know they're called antipsychotics, but they do help with bipolar quite a bit. These medicines also can bring down that manic episode
00:49
and give you a firmer footing and a foundation to work on the other aspects of your life, right? The pills, the medication helps.
00:56
There is no doubt that it helps, but you have to change your lifestyle. We know that exercise helps when you're
01:02
in a depressive phase-- you know, 20 or 30 minutes of cardiovascular exercise each day, getting outside, having family support and peer support,
01:11
and surrounding yourself with the right people who are educated about bipolar disorder works. So we do have a lot of options.
01:18
The treatment that has worked for me is getting on medication, but that journey getting to medication took way too long.
01:27
So part of my treatment, and the way in which I work with my doctors, it's really a collaboration where I have a voice.
01:35
Because to truly treat me in the way that I can thrive in life, you have to know who I am.
01:41
You have to know me as an individual. So for treatment options, medication, I experimented.
01:47
I was very assertive with my doctors. If I wasn't feeling it, I went back in, you know?
01:54
And if I didn't feel that they were seeing me and listening to me, I found someone else.
02:01
And now I have found that team, and it's great. One of the biggest things is-- for treatment is peer support
02:08
and support groups. I go to support groups three times a week. And I need my, you know, my people,
02:14
and they're, like, a reflection to me because we have this bond. And when you can see other individuals like you that
02:23
talk about it, that is really what has helped me on my journey in accepting it and getting
02:29
and staying on medications. But then again, of course, also lifestyle and all of that-- but I think that community is something
02:38
that is part of treatment, and that's pivotal to your success as someone living with a mental illness.
02:46
Right. Unlike Hannah, I was not forward about my choice in health care and physician early on.
02:53
I was very passive about that, early on. I didn't have the capacity to be my own-- you know,
02:59
be in my own corner for that. I lucked out and I got reassigned to a doctor who really was on top of it, cared a ton,
03:08
was willing to explore things, ask questions. And I'll tell you, one thing I learned from interacting with her is that you just have to arrive
03:17
at a place in your mind-- again, this is that mindset where you need to believe and actually act
03:24
as though you are your doctor's best patient. You pay attention. If something's not working, you communicate.
03:30
You try, try, try, and then you just-- you keep it all moving. Like, you always keep the appointments booked, you always touch base.
03:37
If you're not going to make it, you always book the next appointment. It's, like, so beneficial to put that effort into that relationship, because it's going to trickle down
03:45
into everything else. [MUSIC PLAYING]

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