Bipolar Disorder Treatment Brisbane Northside
Living with unpredictable mood swings every day can prevent one from living a normal life. It can create tensions in relationships and career, prevent one from functioning normally in society, and worst, lead to self-harm or commit suicide. That is why many people in Brisbane northside are seeking their nearest mental health provider for bipolar disorder treatment.
Bipolar disorder, also called manic depressive illness, is characterised by extreme shifts in one’s mood. At one end of the spectrum is the elevated mood or mania, and on the other end is depression. The lack of balance between these moods can cause a person to have difficulty functioning at work, school, and interfere with daily life. There is no known cure for bipolar disorder but it can be treated and managed.
Bipolar disorder treatment depends on the phase of a person’s manic or depressive episode and how severe it is. Its goal is to stabilise the mood, maintenance, prevent relapse, and enhance social and occupational functioning.
Medication
- Antipsychotic medications (for manic episodes) such as quetiapine, olanzapine, risperidone, quetiapine, aripiprazole, ziprasidone, lurasidone, and asenapine
- Mood-stabilising medications such as lithium, carbamazepine, and lamotrigine. Valproic acid and divalproex sodium are mood stabilisers but are not safe for pregnant women.
- A combination of an antidepressant medication and a mood stabiliser such as Symbax
- Anti-anxiety medication such as benzodiazepines, which help improve sleep but must be used on a short-term basis.
Non-Drug Treatments
Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT). This is dubbed as one of the safest treatments for severe mood disorders. It is recommended for patients with extreme cases of bipolar disorder, at risk of suicide, or unresponsive to medication. The patient is first anaesthetized and given muscle relaxants, then electrodes are placed on their scalp where an electric current passes through to cause a brief seizure in the brain. During this treatment, medications are discontinued to lessen side effects and to be resumed once treatment is complete.
Vagus Nerve Stimulation (VNS). This procedure is used to help treat depression by using a device to stimulate the vagus nerve (the longest nerve that runs from the brain through the body). The device is implanted under the skin on the chest, and upon activation, sends electrical signals from the left vagus nerve to the brainstem, which then sends signals to certain areas in the brain.
Psychological Treatments
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. This treatment is believed to result in patients having better, longer-lasting recovery from bipolar disorder. This form of talk therapy helps the patient identify thought and behaviour patterns and challenge negative thoughts.
- Interpersonal and Social Rhythm Therapy. This rehabilitation technique focuses on the stabilisation of daily rhythms like sleeping, exercising, and eating, with the use of a problem-solving approach to interpersonal problems. When these biological rhythms are stable, the mood remains stable, too.
- Family-Focused Therapy. This kind of therapy involves the patient and family members in numerous sessions of psychoeducation, communication skills training, and problem-solving skills training. Studies found that patients who received this therapy had lower rates of relapse and less severe symptoms.
- Light and Dark Therapy. Patients with bipolar disorder have a sensitive biological clock, that when disrupted, it throws off sleep-wake cycles that can trigger mania and depression symptoms. Thus, light and dark therapy creates an environment of regular darkness by reducing artificial light for ten hours every night. It regulates biological rhythms and reduces mood cycling.
Need Bipolar Disorder treatment Brisbane northside? The professionals at Ubuntu Medical Stafford can help you! Call us now on (07) 3857 3777.
At Ubuntu Medical, we also have Mental Health Care Plans.