Caring For Someone You Love That Has Bipolar Disorder
Bipolar disorder can lead someone to feel as though they are on a roller coaster of emotions that they didn’t voluntarily pay an admission ticket to ride. Their desire to get off the ride is ever-present, but feels completely out of their control. The varied emotions one can experience that is diagnosed with bipolar disorder can place them in positions of feeling different, misunderstood, confused, scared, frustrated and alienated. Imagine being an observer of this experience. For their loved ones, watching someone they care for struggle with bipolar disorder can lead to feelings of helplessness, guilt, grief, internal conflict, and fatigue.
What kind of care does a person with this diagnosis require
Essential care for someone with this diagnosis requires compassion and empathy to start; helping the individual to feel safe in exploring and processing their varied emotional states. This person should be provided skills on how to effectively regulate their emotions, how to communicate their emotional experiences to others and be counseled on effective ways to identify factors that contribute to their changing emotional states. For individuals who experience more severe forms of this diagnosis (which may include symptoms of psychosis), medications may be considered as a part of their required care for helping in regulating their mood.
How should someone care for a person with bipolar disorder?
Some tips on how to care for a person with Bipolar disorder include, but are not limited to:
Encourage them to feel comfortable talking whenever they are ready
Understand that they are not choosing to experience changing emotional states
Let them know that you are not judging them and want to learn more from them about how they feel
Work with them in developing a plan of how you can provide assistance if they are ever feeling emotionally overwhelmed (e.g. going for a walk together, playing board games, exercising together or even cooking alongside each other)
Most important of all, take time to care for yourself as you are caring for a person with Bipolar disorder. Providing aid to others can often lead to personal fatigue. Practicing forms of self-care ensures that you can adequately support the individual diagnosed with this disorder
If you would like extra support as you navigate through your journey in caring for a loved one carrying this diagnosis, reach out!
Services Offered At Repose Therapy
At Repose Therapy, our goal is to provide the best HOLISTIC PSYCHOTHERAPY services among other evidence-based therapy services to you. We enjoy working with college students, mothers, parents, couples, and individuals who are seeking better mental wellness in their life. If you’re struggling or trying to find a way to move forward, then our DIVERSE TEAM OF THERAPISTS would be thrilled to work with you. If grief counseling isn’t the service you’re seeking, no worries. We offer other services at our ONLINE THERAPY OFFICE IN NEW YORK, CONNECTICUT, AND NEW JERSEY. Other services include EMDR THERAPY, ANXIETY TREATMENT, PTSD TREATMENT, AND TRAUMA THERAPY, THERAPY FOR COLLEGE STUDENTS, MATERNAL MENTAL HEALTH, MARRIAGE COUNSELING AND COUPLES THERAPY, THERAPY FOR TEENS, LGBTQIA+ THERAPY, ART THERAPY, DANCE MOVEMENT THERAPY.
Additionally, we offer many GROUPS at our practice including an adult DBT skills group MANAGING EMOTIONS WITH DBT and Art Therapy, MINDFULNESS-BASED COGNITIVE THERAPY, EMBRACING YOUR BODY, and a Ramadan group. If you’re interested in any of our other services, please reach out, we cannot wait to work with you as you improve your well-being and begin your journey towards healing.