Your Treatment Team

• If you are diagnosed with bipolar disorder, your treatment will typically be administered by a psychiatrist experienced in handling bipolar cases. Since effective treatment of your condition will be both comprehensive and lifelong, your psychiatrist may work in coordination with other professionals, including a social worker, psychiatric nurse or psychologist.
  
  

Treatment Medications

• Your psychiatrist will initially attempt to stabilize your high and low periods. Medications are an important factor in proper treatment, and you may be prescribed one or more drugs to regulate your symptoms. Potential options include: mood stabilizers such as lithium (Lithobid, Eskalith); anticonvulsants such as divalproex or valproic acid (Depakote, Depakene); medications for anxiety such as benzodiazepines; or anti-psychotics such as risperidone (Risperdal) or olanzapine (Zyprexa). Antidepressants were also once commonly prescribed for bipolar disorder, but research has shown that these compounds can actually trigger episodes of mania.
  
  Drug therapies for bipolar disorder may have a wide array of side effects, and certain individual medications may work well for one patient but not for another. In addition to learning the risks and benefits of any medication your psychiatrist prescribes, be aware that finding the right treatment options can take time and experimentation. While you should educate yourself and report problems as they occur, try to give your treatment team some leeway in the process.
  
  

Psychotherapy

• Psychotherapy of some form will also play an important part in your treatment. Individual therapy frequently involves understanding the factors that may trigger manic or depressive episodes, as well as understanding the behaviors you exhibit when in these emotionally altered states. Stress management techniques are often taught, as well. In addition to one-on-one therapy, you may also become involved in group therapy with other bipolar patients or family therapy.
  
  

Electroconvulsive Therapy and Hospitalization

• If you experience episodes of severe depression accompanied by suicidal thoughts or behavior, your treatment may involve the use of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), a process that uses electrical current to intentionally trigger controlled seizures. ECT may also be used if your general manic-depressive symptoms do not respond to other treatment techniques. In some cases, hospitalization is also used as a treatment tool. While your condition may require inpatient treatment, hospitalization can also be partial.
  
  

The Importance of Lifelong Treatment

• While the goal of treatment for bipolar disorder is freedom from debilitating symptoms, you should not consider yourself free from the condition itself even if your symptoms subside for extended periods of time. Treatment for the disorder is effective only so long as you follow your program guidelines, including maintenance of strict medication regimens. Skipping your medication, or compromising its effectiveness with drug or alcohol abuse, can quickly set you up for a relapse or the full return of symptoms. Lifelong treatment will prepare you for a long and productive life.