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Getting
Help
Anyone with bipolar
disorder should be under the care of a psychiatrist skilled
in the diagnosis and treatment of this disease.
Other mental health
professionals, such as psychologists and psychiatric social
workers, can assist in providing the patient and his or her
family with additional approaches to treatment.
Help can be found
at:
- University--or
medical school--affiliated programs
- Hospital departments
of psychiatry
- Private psychiatric
offices and clinics
- Health maintenance
organizations
- Offices of family
physicians, internists, and pediatricians
People with manic-depressive
illness often need help to get help.
- Often people with
this disorder do not recognize how impaired they are or blame
their problems on some cause other than mental illness.
- People with bipolar
disorder need strong encouragement from family and friends
to seek treatment. Family physicians can play an important
role for such referral.
- If this does not
work, loved ones must take the patient for proper mental health
evaluation and treatment.
- If the person
is in the midst of a severe episode, he or she may have to
be committed to a hospital for his or her own protection and
for much needed treatment.
- Anyone who is
considering suicide needs immediate attention, preferably
from a mental health professional or a physician; school counselors
and members of the clergy can also assist in detecting suicidal
tendencies and/or making a referral for more definitive assessment
or treatment. With appropriate help and treatment, it is possible
to overcome suicidal tendencies.
- It is important
for patients to understand that bipolar disorder will not
go away, and that continued compliance with treatment is needed
to keep the disease under control.
- Ongoing encouragement
and support are needed after the person obtains treatment,
because it may take a while to discover what therapeutic regimen
is best for that particular patient.
- Many people receiving
treatment also benefit from joining mutual support groups
such as those sponsored by the National Depressive and Manic
Depressive Association (NDMDA) the National Alliance for the
Mentally Ill (NAMI) and the National Mental Health Association.
- Families and friends
of people with bipolar disorder can also benefit from mutual
support groups such as those sponsored by NDMDA and NAMI.
This publication
was written by Mary Lynn Hendrix of the Office of Scientific
Information, National Institute of Mental Health. Expert assistance
was provided by Frederick K. Goodwin, M.D., Robert Post, M.D.,
Hagop S. Akiskal, M.D., and William Z. Potter, M.D.
All material
in this pamphlet is free of copyright restrictions and may be
copied, reproduced or duplicated without permission from the
Institute; citation of the source is appreciated.
FOR
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ABOUT DEPRESSION
WRITE TO:
DEPRESSION
6001 Executive Boulevard, Rm. 8184, MSC 9663
Bethesda, MD 20892-9663
For
free brochures on depression and its treatment, call: 1-800-421-4211
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