Bipolar Disorder is a complex mental health condition that includes both manic and depressive episodes. One of the most commonly misunderstood phases is bipolar depression, which often gets mistaken for clinical depression. This misdiagnosis can be risky because treatment for clinical depression, when applied to someone with Bipolar Disorder, may trigger manic episodes and worsen the condition.
That’s why it’s essential to seek a thorough evaluation from a qualified mental health professional who can accurately distinguish between clinical depression and bipolar depression. Bipolar Disorder requires a tailored treatment plan that addresses both ends of the mood spectrum—depression and mania—to help you maintain balance and stability in your daily life.
Although Bipolar Disorder is manageable with the right combination of medication, therapy, and lifestyle changes, the depressive episodes can be severe. In some cases, they may even lead to suicidal thoughts or behavior, making early diagnosis and intervention crucial. If you or a loved one are showing signs of bipolar depression or experiencing drastic mood shifts, do not wait. Consult a trusted mental health specialist who can guide you toward appropriate care.
Visit the best Mental Health Clinic in Brooklyn at Doral Health & Wellness or log on to Behavioral Health – Doral Health & Wellness NY to start your journey to a healthier, more balanced life.
To learn more about the diagnosis and manangement of this disorder, keep reading.
Diagnosis of Bipolar Disorder
For diagnosis of bipolar disorder, even specifically depressive episodes, there is no direct test available. However, the doctor will check your symptoms and may order a blood test or brain scans to check out other conditions that cause similar symptoms. If nothing comes in your tests, then your doctor recommends you to a mental health professional or psychiatrist.
A mental health professional will conduct a test that includes questions from DSM-5 criteria to diagnose your condition. Your answers will tell whether you have bipolar disorder or not. However, diagnosing bipolar depression is difficult because mental healthcare providers have to check symptoms of mania and hypomania as well, which are not there. That’s the reason many doctors treat bipolar depression as a major depressive disorder.
And if doctors start treating your bipolar depression as a major depressive disorder, then your chances of developing mania episodes will be higher. And then, healthcare providers understand that you have bipolar depression when your body does not respond to therapy, and you start experiencing mania symptoms.
And this happens in around 40% of cases where patients are first diagnosed with major depression rather than bipolar depression.
Treatment Options For Bipolar Disorder
Usually, bipolar depression is treated with medication, or psychotherapy, or a combination of both.
Medications such as mood stabilizers, anticonvulsants, antidepressants, etc. are used to reduce mood swings and depressive symptoms. Sometimes, certain medication is given in combination to improve your condition.
Psychotherapy such as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is mostly used to treat bipolar disorder. However, therapy depends on the first signs of your depression. During therapy, doctors teach how to cope with the negative feelings of depressive symptoms or learn how to identify triggers of depressive symptoms.
Coping
Some coping methods help improve your symptoms and prevent their triggers.
- Monitor your symptoms: Keep track of your symptoms in a journal. This can help you identify the signs of depressive episodes or the symptom patterns and know whether your medication is working or not and which coping skill will help you in this situation.
- Seek support: Seeking support from your close ones, friends, and colleagues is essential and very helpful in your treatment. And they can help you during your depressive episode when you need help.
- Stay active: Go to the gym every day and work out or you can go for a walk, jog, swim, or bike ride, which makes you active, physically, and mentally healthy.
- Create a safety plan: This is required when your depressive episode increases the risk of suicide or self-harm. So, you need a plan to counter those urges and keep yourself safe. Make sure you share your safety plan with everyone such as family, friends, therapist, counselor, etc.
- Keep in touch with your healthcare provider: Having constant contact with your healthcare provider helps you report the symptoms or side effects you experience throughout the day. Do not stop your medication even if it causes some side effects, first, discuss it with your doctor.
If you need help with any type of mental health condition, visit Doral Health & Wellness’s Mental health clinic in Brooklyn. Call us on 718-DORAL-55, 1-347-384-5690 to get a consultation. If you need help learning coping methods, register your information and make direct contact with our doctors and psychiatrists to learn those methods, log on to www.doralhw.org. Doral Health and Wellness has the best Doctors and Psychiatrists who specialize in Behavioral health, make accurate diagnoses, and craft tailored treatment programs. Visit us at 1797 Pitkin Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11212.
