Can You Treat Bipolar Disorder Without Medication?

People ask me if they can treat their bipolar disorder without medication all the time. They think that I have some secret answer to give them. Like I secretly know something that doctors don’t. Like there is a giant conspiracy to keep non-medication treatments away from people with bipolar disorder.

Well there isn’t.

So let me answer the question: Can you treat bipolar disorder without medication?

The quick answer is: no, not really. The long answer is: sort of, a bit.

So here I outline the treatments I’m aware of that treat bipolar disorder without prescription medication (or neuromodulation, like electroconvulsive therapy or repetitive transcranaial magnetic stimulation).

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