In a Bipolar Treatment Rut – Change Nothing and Nothing Changes
Treatment for bipolar can be a beast. You try medication after medication after therapy after cocktail after doctor and so on. It’s exhausting.
And at some point you stop. You just stop. Maybe some of your symptoms are controlled but not others. Maybe your symptoms are only partially controlled. Maybe you’re just too tired to fill another prescription. I understand, really. And this stopping can persist for weeks, months or even years.
But the thing is, if you change nothing, then nothing will ever change.
To Live with It or Not to Live with It – That is the Question
When you get to this phase in your treatment, there is a question you need to ask yourself – can you live with your symptoms as they stand today?
Well, can you? If you stay with the same treatment, then your disorder is unlikely to change, so can you live like this forever? *
If you can, then you’re done, no more decisions need to be made. Congratulations. You can now walk off into the sunset.
However, if you’ve determined you can’t live like that, then you have to change something. You can’t just sit there and wait for a miracle.
Don’t Just “Accept the Suck”
And if you ask yourself and that question and realize that you can’t live the rest of your life the way you have been living it, then do something about it. Don’t just accept the suck. Life doesn’t have to suck. Trust me. I’ve been in the pit of treatment despair and it can get better. You deserve it to be better. Demand that it be better. Don’t settle for it not being better.
And even though treatment changes in and of themselves really suck, if you don’t try to change, then the way you’re living right now will never change either. You have to take the step. You have to be brave. You have to try something new, try something different.
Because as much as changing treatments can be painful and sometimes ineffective, it holds the hope of something better. Doing nothing means staying the same, and that hold no hope at all.
* OK, to be fair, disorders do change spontaneously, but it’s hard to make decisions based on that. Of course, if your personal health history has shown a pattern of spontaneous changes, then you might want to wait it out.
You can find Natasha Tracy on Facebook or GooglePlus or @Natasha_Tracy on Twitter.
APA Reference
Tracy, N.
(2012, September 24). In a Bipolar Treatment Rut – Change Nothing and Nothing Changes, HealthyPlace. Retrieved
on 2024, November 23 from https://www.healthyplace.com/blogs/breakingbipolar/2012/09/bipolar-treatment-rut-change-nothing-nothing-changes
Author: Natasha Tracy
Yes, I'm in a rut. The meds I'm on now (low doses) work, sort of. The anxiety/mania is gone but not the depressive symptoms. They are tolerable, but barely. I know I need a change, but I'm afraid of taking something with stronger antidepressant properties that may throw me into another manic state resulting in yet another hospitalization. I live alone and I can't afford to take any more time off work. The other downside is I can't afford to spend much more than I already am on medication and I am about to start a new job soon with more responsibility. I'm not sure if the risks outweigh the possible benefits right now so I guess I'll just have to "suck it up"... I am beginning to wonder if there'll ever be a good time???
I definitely can't live with the symptoms I have now. They are affecting every aspect of my life. I have had so many med changes over the last few weeks I that I can't name them all. I was diagnosed 15 years ago and I haven't been this depressed for years. My doctor even sent me to get a second opinion because he ran out of ideas/cocktails to treat me. That made me lose hope but thankfully the other doctor knew of a few things I had not tried yet.
Hi rc,
I'm sorry, but it's not appropriate to leave your phone number in a comment, I've had to remove them.
If you need help I highly recommend you call a helpline. Many are listed here: http://www.healthyplace.com/other-info/resources/mental-health-hotline-numbers-and-referr…
You obviously are reaching out, but you need to reach out to the right people and those people can be found through a helpline.
- Natasha
I need help i have been told i am bi polar manic i have destroyed my marriage and now i am seeing a man at tyson food. I wont go get help or medicine. i wont listen to my wife of 9 years. i am living with a man greg and i dont realize i have destroyed my marriage. i have a mental illness and refuse to get help and i wont go get tested i know my dad had mental illness i cant believe i do. she tryed to help me but i would not listen to her. we have not been together for over 1 year cause of greg at tyson and mental illness i have and i wont go get checked and every one tells her they can not do any thing it is up to me to go get help.
I haven't been on too much of a roller coaster with meds, different bouts with serious depression necessitated some changes. I just couldn't cope with my symptoms anymore; the ups, the downs, the mixed states took over my life. So here I am, on a cocktail that works, at least for now.