Bipolar Disorder Counselling
Individuals with Bipolar Disorder are highly recommended long-term treatment. Bipolar Disorder is a chronic, repeating illness – this makes it just as important to seek treatment when feeling stable as when feeling unstable. A large portion of individuals with Bipolar Disorder require medication to prevent new episodes and to maintain lower ratings of symptoms. Bipolar Disorder counselling will involve identifying the frequency, duration, and severity of moods that you experience, to help determine triggers for these moods and patterns, and to help you learn and implement strategies to better manage your moods.
Your first session involves initial assessment of your well being and a thorough intake of your personal history and background. Subsequent therapy sessions are 50 minutes in length, and are unique to each individual treatment plan.
What is Bipolar Disorder?
Bipolar Disorder is characterized by unpredictable shifts in mood, thoughts, and behaviours. Each individual experiences two different kinds of episodes: the highs of mania and the lows of depression, which vary according to person and sometimes time in one’s life. The episodes vary in terms of frequency, duration, and severity. The duration of an episode can be hours, days, weeks, or months. Triggers for each of the two types of episodes include stress, substance abuse, medication changes, seasonal changes, relationship changes, occupational changes, and/ or sleep deprivation. Unlike ordinary mood swings, the mood alternations in Bipolar Disorder significantly interrupt one’s life and way of being.
During a manic episode, a person might make very impulsive decisions, such as excessive spending/ gambling, abuse of substances, or unsafe sexual behaviours. High energy and/ or functioning on very little sleep is typical of someone in a manic state. While this feeling may be enjoyable at first, it often leads to a spiral downward into a depressive state. During a depressive episode, the same person might feel exhausted, hopelessness, irritable, lack an appetite, a desire to self-harm and/or suicidal thoughts.
Bipolar disorder is often hereditary. The first manic or depressive episode of bipolar disorder usually occurs in the teenage years or early adulthood. With proper treatment and support, someone with Bipolar Disorder does have the potential for a successful and stable life.
Bipolar Disorder Counselling in Mississauga
Services offered at Balanced Mind and Wellness Inc. include: bipolar disorder counselling, bipolar disorder therapy, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT), and interpersonal talk therapy.
