As people who read this bipolar blog know, I’m on medication, lots of it, actually. Nevertheless, many people (philosophically, even me) wish to be medication-free. I’m the first one to say this usually isn’t possible; however, today I’m talking with CEO and Medical Director Dr. Kim Dennis from Timberline Knolls (a sponsor) about bipolar disorder without medication.
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Today’s article is another in the series on inpatient treatment facilities. These questions have been answered by the staff at Timberline Knolls – the Bipolar Burble blog’s new sponsor. These questions were submitted by readers and cover bipolar treatments, length of stay, mental illness life skills, and use of discipline.
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Today marks the start of a few articles I’ll be writing about private inpatient psychiatric treatment facilities. This is thanks to our new sponsor, Timberline Knolls. The highly-trained staff at their facility have agreed to answer my, and your, questions about inpatient treatment facilities. Today we’ll be talking about the basics of inpatient treatment facilities including services offered, intake, what professionals are there and what it’s like to stay in a residential treatment facility.
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I have written before that you can sort of, a little bit, manage bipolar disorder without medication. There are a few proven treatment strategies that do work to manage bipolar disorder and keep you out of the prescription line at the pharmacy.
Nevertheless, I’m still a big believer in medication. I believe that if your life is out-of-control because of bipolar disorder, then medication is probably the best thing for you. I believe that if you’re in pain because of bipolar disorder, then you should be seeing a psychiatrist. I believe that if your functionality is compromised by a disordered brain, then you should be looking at a medical solution.
But does this mean that people with uncontrolled bipolar disorder should be forced to take medication?
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Recently, I wrote a piece for PsychCentral that outlined some recommendations for treatment-resistant bipolar disorder. This piece talked about first-line and second-line agents for the treatment of bipolar disorder but I wanted to delve a little further into the novel agents that are now being studied for the treatment of bipolar depression. These are medications that are not typically used to treat bipolar disorder, work in new ways and show promise in recent studies. This is cutting edge and if you’re treatment-resistant this is an area that can offer you hope.
The reason why this piece is about unusual bipolar depression medication and not medication for mania is because the medications we have for mania are quite effective for most people. It is the bipolar depression that, typically, is very hard to treat. Additionally the two Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved bipolar depression treatments (quetiapine and an olanzapine/fluoxetine combination) tend to carry very serious side effects like weight gain, risk of diabetes including diabetic ketoacidosis and others. We also know that most people with bipolar disorder spend vastly more time in a depressed state than in a manic state.
According to Dr. Prakash Masand, CEO and founder of Global Medical Education, “Less than 30% of bipolar patients achieve remission that is maintained long term. There are great unmet needs in the treatment of bipolar depression. Innovative approaches are needed rather than ‘me-too’ agents that offer little incremental benefit.”
Dr. Masand notes the following are new, novel agents that look promising in the treatment of bipolar depression.
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Recently a friend of mine tried to make a change – she tried to stop smoking. Unfortunately, that attempt only lasted a few days.
Many people, of course, have been in that situation. Many people have tried to make a change and have found themselves less than completely successful. But what I told my friend is that she didn’t fail, she simply hadn’t succeeded – yet.
And so, I would consider her attempt a type of success. I would consider it an intention of success. I would consider it an approximation of success. I would consider it to be a step forward that ultimately will lead to success.
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If you know my story of bipolar disorder treatment, you know that it hasn’t been a pleasant one. Doctors have fired me and given up on me. I have tried a host of treatments that didn’t work. I have experienced almost every side effect under the sun. I have bumped into holes in the healthcare system that have denied me access to a psychiatrist. I’ve spent years wanting to die. I have seen, and lived through, it all. And I would say there are many unmet needs in the treatment of bipolar disorder. I would say these unmet needs are part of bipolar treatment and part of the system in which treatment is delivered. I don’t blame psychiatrists or psychiatry, specifically. I would say there is plenty of blame to go around.
So when I think about unmet needs in bipolar disorder treatment, there seems to me to be many.
Read MoreThere’s a lot to know about bipolar and bipolar depression. How do I know? Because I’ve written about bipolar depression so many times it would make your head spin.
And what I try to do is either present the human side of bipolar depression or the evidence-based side. Here are a few of the articles I’ve written on bipolar depression:
Well now I, and you, have the (FREE) chance to get a genuine look into bipolar depression from an evidence-based approach through the words of a leading psychiatrist.
Here is the information on a FREE webcast by doctors (technically, for doctors) on an evidence-based approach to treating bipolar depression. I believe there will be a lot to learn here.
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When people ask me about bipolar treatments or bipolar therapy here, I tell them about the research on the therapy or treatment and I tell them this, “different bipolar treatments and bipolar therapies work for different people so try it and see if it helps.”
And I consider this good advice. It’s absolutely true. Different bipolar treatments and bipolar therapies do work for different people – but that doesn’t mean that I, personally, believe in them.
And, to be clear, it’s not so much that I don’t believe in them entirely, it’s more that I don’t believe in them for me.
Enter mindfulness-cognitive therapy or mindfulness meditation.
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