Bipolar Disorder

If you experience extreme levels of energy and enthusiasm, followed by severe bouts of depression, you may have a bipolar disorder. This is a dangerous condition that too often goes untreated. The best thing to do is contact a doctor experienced in diagnosing and treating bipolar disorder. First, find out if you truly have some type of the condition. Second, receive the proper treatment before you face unwanted consequences. In New Jersey, New York and Florida, the best bipolar doctor is at Online Psychiatrists, which offers confidential, convenient appointments online through telepsychiatry. Call today.

Am I Just Moody?

Manic depression is a mood disorder that involves extreme mood swings. A broader term, called bipolar disorder, encompasses a wider variety of mood swings. Understanding these extreme mood swings is the beginning of being able to safely navigate and control your moods to keep them from interfering with your daily life.

With a bipolar disorder, you experience wide ranges in your moods — from significant sadness, known as bipolar depression, to extreme euphoria, called mania or hypomania. Your mood swings may occur occasionally, or they may cycle rapidly several times a year. Bipolar disorder is a lifelong condition with no known cure, but you can learn to manage it.

While a qualified psychiatrist can diagnose the condition at any age, most noticeable symptoms appear in your late teens or early twenties. The experienced bipolar doctor at Online Psychiatrists — serving patients in NY, FL and NJ — successfully manages the condition with a bipolar disorder treatment plan that usually includes:

Understanding your specific condition by focusing on your unique symptoms allows your bipolar doctor to tailor a successful treatment plan. The best treatment for bipolar disorder for you takes into account your diagnosis. The types of bipolar disorder include:

• Bipolar I disorder. This severe form of bipolar disorder means that you experience manic episodes — feelings of euphoria, extreme energy and irritability — followed by a period of deep depression. Bipolar depression affects your pleasure centers, causing feelings of hopelessness and sadness. Occasionally, the mania causes a break from reality, dropping you into an episode of psychosis.
• Bipolar II disorder. Called hypomania, this is a milder form of mania that’s associated with excessive energy along with scattered thoughts. If you’ve experienced hypomania and depression, but not intense mania, your psychiatrist may suggest bipolar II treatment.
• Cyclothymic disorder. This form of bipolar disorder encompasses hypomania and milder forms of depression. Before diagnosis, you’ve been suffering from these mood changes for at least two years.
• Other disorders. Other conditions may induce bipolar-type symptoms. Drugs, alcohol, stroke, multiple sclerosis and Cushing’s disease all contribute to changes in the brain that may initiate bipolar symptoms. Trust your New York psychiatrist to determine the correct diagnosis.

What’s the Significance of a Specialized Bipolar Doctor?

Severe mood swings can become dangerous, as prolonged feelings of depression can lead to self-harm, substance abuse and even suicide. At the same time, prolonged mania affects your sleep, judgment and the ability to think clearly. Either extreme disrupts your life.

Connect with a specialized psychiatrist at Online Psychiatrists to screen for biological causes of your mood swings. Symptoms that an experienced psychotherapist recognizes when diagnosing bipolar disorder include:

• Wired or agitated behavior
• Sleeplessness
• Fast and sometimes garbled talking
• An exaggerated sense of what you can accomplish
• Dangerous behavior patterns
• Poor decision-making that may include spending sprees, gambling or taking sexual risks
• As the mania subsides, you experience severe feelings of sadness, hopelessness, emptiness, irritability and tears. After a period of mania with little sleep, you find it hard to eat or even get out of bed. If this sounds familiar, it’s time to get some effective treatment.

What’s the Treatment for Bipolar Disorder?

While your mood swings may be extreme, you still may not seek treatment for some time. The feelings of euphoria can be so pleasant that you may not even want to control them. The most dangerous complications result when the high feelings of euphoria are followed by severe lows.

Consequences range from poor work performance to financial or legal problems. Damaged relationships, substance abuse and even suicide attempts aren’t uncommon. There’s hope. Effective bipolar treatments include:

• Medications. Prescription medicine balances your moods and provides a sense of stability. Such drugs include antidepressants, anti-anxiety medication, mood stabilizers, antipsychotics or some combination of them. Finding the correct combination takes time. Your psychiatrist works with you to manage your medications and make appropriate adjustments.
• Day treatment programs. Examples of these programs include group support and individual counseling to manage your symptoms. Continued counseling and support teach you to watch for triggers and stay ahead of consequences. Proper education and intervention can work wonders.
• Substance abuse treatment. If you’re like many people with bipolar disorder, you’ve been self-medicating to manage your moods. Substance abuse causes its own set of problems, both physical and emotional.
• Hospitalization. if your symptoms become severe or you’re a danger to yourself and others, sometimes the best path to your recovery starts with a hospital stay.

Bipolar disorders are complicated, but they’re manageable with proper education, medication and support from an expert in the field. Contact Online Psychiatrists, where you’ll find both in-person opportunities for specialized treatment and telepsychiatry options that allow you to begin your treatment as soon as possible. Weekend and after-hour appointments are available.