Bipolarity is a disorder with many myths. The term is often misused to refer to changes in people’s attitudes, but these do not meet the criteria for being considered symptoms of bipolar disorder.

In this article we will address the issue of how to help a person with bipolar disorder , and also clarify doubts regarding the symptoms of this pathology, to clearly determine when we can be in the presence of this mental disorder.

What is bipolar disorder?

Before moving on to tips on how to help a person with bipolar disorder, it is necessary to know exactly what this condition is. Bipolarity consists of a series of extreme changes in a person’s mood , but they must meet a certain level of persistence.

A person may be presumed to be engaging in bipolar disorder behaviors when changes in mood occur over a period of time of approximately several months, i.e., they are not sudden changes that occur in a matter of minutes. In addition, the intensity of the moods must be significant and involve significant discomfort or risk to the person’s integrity.

The mood polarities that manifest themselves in bipolar personality disorder are a manic one, characterized by intense states of euphoria and agitation in people, and another depressive one ; characterized by strong states of apathy and generalized lack of enthusiasm.

In some cases, you may see patients in whom both polarities coexist; this is known as mixed bipolar disorder. This variant of bipolarity is more complex than the classic one and includes a higher risk for those who suffer from it.

In mixed cases of bipolarity, manic and euphoric behaviors are mixed with depressive ones, resulting in subjects living with treacherous attitudes motivated by intense depressive thoughts. In these scenarios, the risk of self-flagellation and suicide increases.

  • You may be interested in: “Types of Bipolar Disorder and Their Characteristics”

Symptomatology

As mentioned earlier, the symptomatology of bipolar disorder goes beyond simple mood swings in people.

During manic states physical symptoms may be evident, such as constant agitation, verbiage, hyperactivity , etc. These will always be accompanied by an attitude of abnormal enthusiasm, nervousness or tension.

With regard to the depressive states that occur in bipolar disorder, people show quite marked discouragement and abulia , slow behaviour under any circumstances, insomnia, and fatigue. In severe cases, the possibility of suicide is considered.

Tips to Help a Person with Bipolar Disorder

In the following list of tips, we’ll review some tools for providing support and help to people with bipolar disorder.

1. Help you accept your disorder

The sooner we get the person to accept that they have a pathology, the closer we will be that they are willing to seek the necessary help . Let us remember that our function is one of accompaniment and support, and that it is necessary to have a mental health professional for the improvement to be significant.

Talking to the person about the benefits of going to therapy is a good way to help them agree to come to the consultation, although we should be careful about the way we say things; we don’t want to appear to be making judgments about their behavior and decision making.

2. Understanding depressive and manic states

As support figures we must understand the subjects’ behaviors when they are going through some polar crisis of this disorder. We must not judge or treat the subject as a bad person or someone who does not deserve respect for having serious problems; his behaviour responds to an organic pathology that is beyond his voluntary control .

This is one of the most important pieces of advice when it comes to helping a person with bipolar disorder, since damaging his or her self-esteem could cause him or her to stop going to therapy.

3. Learning to recognize indicators

In general, when a subject is close to changing from one polarity to another, certain indicators are usually presented that anticipate this . It is important that we know what they are. In this way, we can do our best to avoid the progression to a full episode, or delay its appearance.

4. Accompany you to therapy

The fact that we are willing and available to accompany the subject to therapy means for him an extra source of motivation . In addition, we will avoid the person feeling alone, which helps a lot to be consistent with the sessions and to follow the therapist’s indications correctly.

5. Monitoring your medication

Patients with bipolar disorder should be monitored in conjunction with the psychologist and psychiatrist. Medication is often essential for the subject to remain stable and prevent manic and depressive episodes from significantly affecting his quality of life.

Therefore, as friends or relatives of the patient, you should do your best to monitor whether he or she is taking his or her medication according to the doctor’s instructions , and if not, to talk to him or her.

6. Spend quality time with the person

People with bipolar disorder usually don’t have an easy time maintaining long and stable personal relationships, considering that they change their attitudes in very extreme ways; sometimes they are too eloquent and frantic, and sometimes they don’t feel like talking to almost anyone.

It is important that we spend quality time with these people and make it easier for them to relate, thus preventing them from isolating themselves from others . We can look for activities to do together, in which they interact with other people and can feel that they are capable of leading a normal life.

7. Avoiding tense situations in front of the subject

It is recommended that we try to always maintain an attitude of assertiveness and respect with people who have bipolar disorder, because stressful moments can trigger manic or depressive behavior.

Bibliographic references:

  • Cipriani, G., Danti, S., Carlesi, C., Cammisuli, D.M., Di Fiorino, M. (2017). Bipolar Disorder and Cognitive Dysfunction: A Complex Link. The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease (Review). 205 (10): 743 – 756.
  • Newman, C. F., Leahy, R. L., Beck, A. T. and Reilly-Harrington, N. (2005). Bipolar disorder: A cognitive therapy approach. Barcelona: Ediciones Paidós Ibérica.