Bipolar Disorder

Addressing Co-occurring Issues in Bipolar Disorder

Though there are many people affected by bipolar disorder, many do not display extreme symptoms. However, there are many who do. When this becomes an issue, there are a variety of co-occurring disorders can arise. The good news is that these can be treated and, for the sake of the person, should be attended to.

What Is Bipolar Disorder?

When a person suffers from bipolar disorder, they have extreme swings between depression and mania. A common issue is that bipolar disorder is often exhibited through prolonged periods of both mood swings. Though many people have short periods of feeling down, or periods of feeling energized, these are not sustainable for long periods and especially when experienced back-to-back.

Symptoms of Depression:

  • Loss of interest in everyday activities
  • Feelings of despair
  • Decreased appetite
  • Difficulty sleeping
  • Disturbed/illogical thinking
  • Difficulty concentrating
  • Suicidal thoughts

Symptoms of Mania:

  • Insomnia
  • Extreme energy
  • Easily irritated/agitated
  • Extreme joy
  • Self-importance
  • Feeling delusional
  • Poor decision making
  • Extreme actions with overreaching consequences

When a person has these symptoms, they will often become exhausted, and their bouts of mania will last longer. This often causes an extreme lack of sleep, with some people staying awake for days. They may believe they are solving problems or having amazing ideas when they are, in fact, slowly burning out their minds.

Bipolar disorder can lead to such overtly negative behavior because the mind is unable to regulate normal sleep patterns and dopamine, meaning that emotions are in a constant state of flux. For most people, when they are sad, it takes them some time to return to their baseline.

Also, when they are extremely happy, they will eventually tire and return to their baseline. However, when they go from their lowest emotions straight to their highest, the brain is unable to cope, and the sudden shift can cause even more issues with brain chemistry.

What Are Co-occurring Issues?

Co-occurring issues are also known as dual diagnosis. This means that a person has two or more issues that are happening at the same time. A bipolar diagnosis is an example of this type of condition.

Another issue for people with bipolar disorder is that it may lead to drastic behavior such as substance abuse. People may feel they need something to calm their minds or may have times of mania where they feel invincible and will use illicit substances because it simply feels like a great idea.

When this happens, they are left with even more co-occurring issues. These people may find that substances such as alcohol are able to depress some of the manic behavior, however, it will have the added issue of increasing the levels of depression.

Once a person is addicted, they may not stop at just one substance. For example, they may attempt to counter the effects of alcohol with something like cocaine. These two should not be mixed regardless of the situation, but with bipolar disorder, they can be even more disastrous as they will throw people’s erratic behavior into sharper relief.

Available Treatment for Bipolar Disorder

There are a variety of treatments for bipolar disorder. Due to the fact that it is a chemical imbalance within the brain, medication-assisted treatment (MAT) is often utilized. Due to the co-occurring nature of bipolar disorder, there will often be a cocktail of multiple medications used to treat the various aspects of the disorder. This course of treatment will start with lower doses of medication, and a medical professional will monitor the person’s behavior to adjust levels and decide on the right mix.

Often, the treatment involves mood stabilizers. These can include:

  • Lamotrigine (Lamictal)
  • Lithium (Lithobid)
  • Divalproex sodium (Depakote)

These are only three examples, as there are a number of different medications that can be taken. However, these medications are often used primarily to deal with mania. There are also medications to treat depression. These are called Serotonin Selective Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs), and much like mood stabilizers, there is a variety for a medical professional to use and see which works best. Often included are:

  • Fluoxetine (Prozac)
  • Paroxetine (Paxil)
  • Sertraline (Zoloft)

There are a number of others that can be used. It is important to know that there may be other medications involved in an effort to find balance and deal with any additional side effects that the initial medications can bring. Should people become frustrated with the amount of time it takes to find the right balance, there are many different combinations to try, and the medical professional wants nothing but to get the mixture right. Patience is necessary for this process.

Twilight Recovery Center’s Approach

At Twilight Recovery Center, you can be guaranteed that you will get the assistance you need to deal with your bipolar or other co-occurring disorders. Upon arrival, a full assessment will be conducted by a medical professional to determine what issues need to be dealt with.

For people experiencing multiple issues, MAT will be used to assist with any initial issues and will be adjusted going forward. Individuals will be provided with individual care that is crafted for them so that they know they are not simply going through a cookie-cutter assembly line.

Your care is paramount, and Twilight Recovery Center is here to provide the highest quality care available.

Bipolar disorder is a condition that many people face without understanding it. In fact, many people assume that their co-occurring issues have nothing to do with having bipolar disorder. However, those with this condition may be confused by what they are experiencing and how to deal with it. At Twilight Recovery Center, we believe in addressing the whole individual through a variety of treatment options. When you enter our doors, the staff is ready to help diagnose your particular issues and develop a plan to treat them. For those without a diagnosis, we can walk you through the process and show you that things can improve for you. Call us today at (888) 414-8183.

Emotional or Mental Health

Emotional or Mental Health

When people consider the health of their emotional and mental states, they may be confused about the difference between the two. These differences exist, and knowing them will help people learn what issues need to be dealt with and the proper way to do so.

What Is Emotional Health?

Emotional health is the ability to cope with and manage emotions. People who do not have a firm grasp on their emotional health will often have issues with their overall mental health.

The concept of managing emotions may seem like a normal part of life for most people. However, there are those who lack the basic principles that create strong emotional health.

Self-Esteem

The concept of healthy self-esteem is integral to emotional health. When a person feels good about themselves, it can be easier to go through life and be confident. This means that the inner workings of one’s emotions have a direct line with how one feels about themselves. Confidence can mean the difference between healthy and unhealthy approaches to personal relationships.

If someone is able to easily make an individual feel bad about themselves, or if they fail at a task and cannot think of anything except how stupid they are, it can lead to larger issues. There is a knack for taking these moments and making sure that you can check in with yourself to see how you are dealing with things on an emotional level and how it may only momentarily affect your self-esteem.

Self-Acceptance

There is a difference between self-esteem and self-acceptance, though they are inextricably linked. For people looking to build self-esteem, there is a part of them that must accept who they are. This means that no matter what kind of person you are, what issues you may have, or even how happy you are, you must learn self-acceptance.

When a person can accept who they are, they will be able to feel more like a complete person. We all have flaws and make mistakes. People with strong emotional health can take these flaws and mistakes and not only learn from them but absorb the lessons and realize that they are just lessons in learning about themselves.

Ability to Manage Strong Emotions

Considering the number of emotions that humans experience on a daily basis, it is not hard to believe that some people have trouble with the major highs and lows. We all have our baseline emotions, but it is important that we learn to take the bigger emotions and learn how to incorporate them rather than let them control us.

What Is Mental Health?

Mental health is the overall ability to think clearly and make good decisions. When we talk about emotional health, it is one piece of the overall structure of our mental health.

The three areas that make up mental health are:

  • Emotional health
  • Social health
  • Psychological health

A person with a great baseline for each of these three pieces is likely to have adequate mental health. However, it should be clear that when big events or upheavals happen in our lives, it may temporarily destabilize this balance and require outside assistance.

When we have issues with mental health, it can have far-reaching consequences. For some people, there may be physical as well as emotional side effects. These can include:

  • Lack of energy
  • Severe mood swings
  • Insomnia
  • Issues with eating/lack of eating
  • Increase use of drugs and alcohol

Should people encounter issues with their mental health and not seek treatment, these side effects and consequences can become severe. It is up to the individual to realize where the imbalance may be and that they need to seek assistance.

The Relationship Between Emotional and Mental Health

One of the main things to realize is that due to the fact that emotional health falls under the heading of overall mental health, it is impossible to fix one without the other. However, should someone need to work on their emotional health, it can be dealt with in a way that can be separated from the other branches of mental health.

For example, where mental health considers how well your mind understands and processes experiences and information, emotional health focuses on a person’s ability to express and manage emotions. When a person is unable to manage their emotions or learn from experiences there will be a breakdown in both emotional and mental health.

Therefore, if a person is showing signs of problems with their mental health, emotional health may be the first place a mental health professional will address before moving on to other areas of treatment.

Twilight Recovery Center’s Approach to Emotional and Mental Health

Recovery can be a difficult time in a person’s life. Twilight Recovery Center understands this and is mindful of the fact that substance abuse is directly tied to emotional and mental health.

Therefore, while we seek to treat the overall substance abuse issues, we make sure that our residents know that one of the first pieces of that process is mental health therapy, wherein they will be asked to examine their emotional and overall mental states to find the roots of what has been causing their issues. Each individual has their own story and we intend to help them find the answers not from without, but from within.

When treating someone with a substance abuse disorder, it is important to remember the differences between mental and emotional health.  For many people, the idea of seeking assistance for their issues may fall under the umbrella of mental health.  However, their emotional health may be what is being neglected.  At Twilight Recovery Center, we are well-equipped to show our residents the difference between mental and emotional health. Also, how to separate them and address them individually.  When this distinction is made, the recovery process may feel as though it is proceeding in an even healthier direction.  For more information about what our program can offer, call us at (888) 414-8183.

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Receive the highest level of care at our upscale recovery center. We offer world class treatments to ensure the finest road to recovery.

Contact

Address

Farallon #9751, San Antonio del Mar, Baja California Mexico CP 22560

Phone:

(1)888-414 81 83
+52 664 80 58 882 

Email

info@twilightrecoverycenter.com

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