Bipolar Recovery: How to Know What to Expect

To understand bipolar recovery, you must first understand what bipolar disorder is and why it’s such a complicated mental health topic. While there may be a number of causal linkages for the onset of bipolar disorder — including genetic factors, drug and alcohol abuse, abnormal brain function, and even stress — the fact remains that more than 4% of American adults will experience some form of bipolar disorder in their lifetimes [i]. An estimated 83% of those adults will experience severe impairment, with the onset most frequently occurring around age 25 or older [ii].

What Is Bipolar Recovery?

Since we don’t fully understand what causes bipolar disorder symptoms to present, it’s sometimes difficult to diagnose until you experience those telltale signs of mood episodes, with the vacillating extreme happiness with terrible depression [iii]. While bipolar disorder is a brain disorder, there is still a range of treatment options that can help to achieve a state of bipolar recovery. Given the extreme ways that bipolar disorder affects relationships, work, and every other aspect of a person’s life, you probably seek recovery without knowing what to expect or how long it might take.

How Long Does Bipolar Recovery Take?

Bipolar disorder runs in families. You might recall that there’s a genetic factor, which means that you might get some sense of your own recovery by looking at how other members of your family have responded to treatment and recovery efforts. Of course, everyone’s recovery and treatment plan may be different, and each person can respond in a unique way, depending on personal stress levels, substance abuse challenges, health considerations, and a range of other factors. Still, in general, it could take anywhere from a year to 18 months to experience bipolar recovery.

If your bipolar disorder was instigated by a combination of benzodiazepine and alcohol, your symptoms and bipolar recovery may be a bit different from other members of your family. It’s also possible that other members of your family have not experienced symptoms that were severe enough to inspire a diagnosis. No matter how you have been affected and what your current recovery looks like, you should be aware of how your dual diagnosis could affect your recovery. In many situations, recovery could take much longer than 18 months, if you’re looking for a benchmark of stability.

Here at Summit Detox, we offer a range of treatment options to help you achieve bipolar recovery, no matter where you are in your process. You may be considering Summit Detox as a step-down from hospitalization. Or it could be that you’re just looking for medication management options. No matter where you are in your bipolar recovery process, contact our team of licensed care professionals and treatment specialists. We’ll discuss how we can help you achieve bipolar recovery.

What Does Bipolar Disorder Treatment Look Like?

There is no cure for bipolar disorder, but effective treatments can mitigate the effects of the symptoms that can be most damaging to a person’s life and relationships [iv]. Bipolar disorder can affect your life, but you can also learn to manage and reduce the symptoms with the benefit of education, psychotherapy, and medication. Some of the most common forms of treatment we use include:

• Psychiatric care: Our experienced and accredited psychiatrist can work with you to achieve personal recovery.
• Medication management monitoring: We monitor your medication and make adjustments as needed to achieve the functional experience you’re looking for.
• On-site nursing 24/7: Our nursing staff is available day or night to help you address and manage your meds and self-care protocols.
• Individual/group counseling: Counseling is another effective way to move forward on your journey to self-discovery and recovery.
• Case management: We help you understand what you need to do to manage and balance your mental and physical health.
• EMDR: As a form of psychotherapy, eye movement desensitization and reprocessing is another treatment option that is effective for the goal of achieving balance.
• Daily activities: You can develop a whole schedule of activities to keep you busy. Those activities also have the benefit of supporting your efforts to find purpose and meaning in your life.

With such a range of treatment options available, we will work with you to develop a plan that will best meld with your needs and preferences. Our goal is to help you feel safe and comfortable at Summit Detox. We want you to know that you’re not alone no matter where you find yourself in your bipolar recovery process.

You can reach out to our experienced team of licensed and accredited professionals anytime to experience the support and understanding that you need right now. We offer hands-on knowledge and insight to help you achieve the bipolar recovery you need not only now but long into the future.

Contact us to learn more about how our licensed therapists and care professionals can help you achieve bipolar recovery.

 

[i] National Institute of Mental Health – Bipolar Disorder

https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/bipolar-disorder

[ii] National Institute of Mental Health – Bipolar Disorder

https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/bipolar-disorder

[iii] American Psychiatric Association – What is Bipolar Disorder?

https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/bipolar-disorders/what-are-bipolar-disorders

[iv] US News & World Report – Can People Recover From Bipolar Disorder?https://health.usnews.com/health-care/conditions/articles/can-people-recover-from-bipolar-disorder