Hi,
How’s it going today?
I was talking to someone the other day who has bipolar disorder and they weren’t doing too well.
I asked them a lot of questions trying to figure out why, but I’ll spare you the gory details.
The bottom line is…
They’re only seeing ONE doctor! I mean, one doctor for EVERYTHING to do with their bipolar disorder!
One doctor.
No psychiatrist.
No therapist.
No counselor.
No social worker.
No spiritual advisor.
NOBODY. Just the one doctor.
Needless to say, I was SHOCKED!
In my courses/systems, I talk about building a strong support system, and how you have to have a whole treatment TEAM in order to get better.
SUPPORTING AN ADULT WITH BIPOLAR DISORDER?
Visit:
http://www.bipolarsupporter.com/report11
SUPPORTING A CHILD/TEEN WITH BIPOLAR DISORDER?
Visit:
http://www.bipolarparenting.com
HAVE BIPOLAR DISORDER?
Visit:
http://www.survivebipolar.net
This person was saying that because their doctor was the one who diagnosed them, he was the only person they trusted to take care of their bipolar disorder.
But then I reminded them that they weren’t getting better only using that one doctor, so something must be wrong with their system!
(Actually, it didn’t seem to me like they had any system to begin with, because you can’t have a system with just one doctor in it.)
You have to have a TEAM of professionals if you’re going to get better with bipolar disorder.
You can’t just have ONE professional on that team.
You need to at least have a doctor, psychiatrist and therapist.
That’s THREE right there!
Because each one has a different job to do, and you need all three to do their individual job for you.
Your medical doctor takes care of the physical side of you.
They are responsible for any side effects from medication, any physical aspects of your bipolar disorder (like headaches, insomnia, etc.), bloodwork you may need to monitor blood levels of bipolar medication in your bloodstream.
They also take care of your physical health.
Just like anyone without bipolar disorder, if you get sick, you go to your medical doctor.
All those things that your medical doctor takes care of for you, well, your psychiatrist and therapist can’t do that.
Your psychiatrist follows your bipolar disorder. They monitor your medications and prescribe them, adjusting them if necessary, and adding new medications the old ones.
Your medical doctor and therapist can’t do that.
Your therapist is responsible for helping you with the issues surrounding your bipolar disorder as well as with your life issues.
They don’t just spend 15 or 20 minutes with you like your medical doctor or psychiatrist. They work with you on a long-term basis as well, and they work with deeper issues. Your medical doctor and psychiatrist can’t do that. So do you see?
Like a puzzle, you need all THREE parts to make up your professional treatment team in order to get better with your bipolar disorder.
You have to have a system. You have to have a team.
And a team does NOT consist of only ONE player!
FIND OUT WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING ABOUT ME
Visit: http://www.bipolarcentral.com/testimonials
David Oliver is the author of the shocking guide “Bipolar Disorder—The REAL Silent Killer.” Click Here to get FREE Information sent via email on how and why bipolar disorder kills.
Post responses below
Hi I only have one doctor and all he does is prescribe my mood stabilizers! ever since i came out of hospital 4 years ago that is all the help i am getting, i try to keep a log of my mood cycles, keep a diary and be proactive re exercise etc but all in all i read the post David sends me and try to cope.
Thank you for telling me BP patient need all the medical professionals help. My question is how much that will cost us although we have insurance, but only cover 80%. The piles of medical bill already made my wife (who is a BP patient) head spin. The doctor help patients medically but cost them their financial life. Henry
I guess I surpass them ALL!! I have FOUR doctors on my Team. My medical doctor takes care of everything my Psychiatrist is not there to handle. I have a Pain Specialist, who only prescribes opiates and gives injections in my back. Then, as mentioned, I have a Nurse Practitioner who, in combination with a psychiatrist, monitors my medications, sets up my blood work, and prescribes changes as they come about. My therapist (whom I have known for 39 years!), monitors my mood, and, in conjunction with cognitive therapy, assists me in controlling the uncontrollable stressors in my life, as well as how to COPE with everything that bothers me.
I am nobody special; I don’t have a live-in supporter, so I rely SOLELY on my Medical Team to take care of me. I don’t DARE miss an appointment (though I have), because what each one does has an effect on the other.
I agree with Dave when he says you MUST have a Team of specialists; your ordinary PCP just CAN’T do it all for you.
BIG HUGS to all bipolar survivors and those who love us. May God bless you real good. I pray for my country.
I am SO lucky! I have had the sweetest support from my 3 doctors over the 24 years since diagnoses. Not to mention from family. AND all of my supporters, 3 doctors and family, have releases to talk to each other. My primary MD told me he was having trouble finding therapist and Psychiatric help for his patience. I have had the same therapist for 23 of the 24 years after realizing I was By-polar. He knows everything that I do from what I eat to who I do. AND All along putting up with my episodes. Most of the time this makes me very happy. We have our spats but I mostly comply and I know he knows best. If I am in compliance with the 3 doctor’s – life is good. I’m having a hard time with stopping the party after the holidays – I am functioning alright, work, seeing friends, exercise, cleaning, good grooming et al BUT doing it all numb and not feeling much of the time. Anyhow, I’d miss any of the three of the doctors if I didn’t have them. BAD
acg
David,
I am really needing more info on very early onset BP. My son who is almost 12 was diagnosed at 4 after trying to work outpatient with a therapist and finally becoming so dangerous that he had to be hospitalized. I have a great medical/psych team for him, but like you and most others have already noted, they don’t always have the time to answer questions I may have. Also, at visits even though I have questions written down, I feel rushed and unable to get complete answers. He is also ADHD and has Asperger’s which complicates the whole situation. He is doing pretty well now but more info on this VERY RARE early diagnosis would be greatly appreciated. Thanks a bunch and here’s to hoping for sunny days in the BP world.
Angela
Angela, It is rare to be diagnosed so young. I wish you and your son the best! I was in therapy at 12 after father left and I was acting out. I resented it and fought it. Anyhow, I think the best thing any supporter can do is listen – Really listen!
acg
David, I read your posts in wonder. My son is an adult bipolar who hasn’t been able to hold a full time job in a year and a half. Finally got him on SSI, which amounts to $360 a month. He gets $160 a month in food stamps. He got on Medicaid, but only 1 facility in the county and 1 doctor will accept it, and the waiting list for them is months. We finally paid for him to go to a private Dr. and at least the medicaid is paying the $420/mo for the medication he needs. He found one group at a reduced rated of $20/session. We are paying his rent and other expenses in excess of that $520 a month assistance he gets and are middle class people with not much in savings. How on earth can people afford 4 doctors? 4 therapists? There have to be a lot of BP people without jobs and rich families and insurance… how do they get by? Or is the answer that they don’t? They are the homeless we see in our streets? The hungry we give to sitting by the side of the road? Is there some secret I don’t know? Thanks.
Hi…I have been dating someone who is believed to have bipolar. It was the worst relationship I have ever been in, especially the 1st year. After that 1st year we broke up for 6 months and are now trying to work on things. We have talked about seeing a counselor and I have tried to motivate her on seeing another doctor, as well as a psychiatrist, but she don’t believe it is bipolar. She knows she needs help and her meds. It is definiately a rocky road and there is no trust. All of the symptoms shown for that disease is how she acts. I’m not sure what to do, but I want this relationship to work and for things to get better. It is very hard to be positive with our past. She has no insurance, has a hard time working, and can’t be faithful to 1 person. Not necessarily faithful, I guess it is that she has to tell people what they want to hear and when being in a relationship, I just don’t see how that can be ok. I just needed to vent. Thanks so much!
Pat, There are a lot of BP people without jobs and rich families and insurance… BP doesn’t just affect poor people. As a matter if fact most BP people are intelligent, extremely creative people when stable.
Good luck!
acg
Andrea, You will have much difficulty making any headway if your GF isn’t on meds and has the desire to get better, if she is like me when I am having episodes. You will go crazy and never be happy. I wrote yesterday about a friend on crack. I asked her what her plan was and she had little or none. You can’t help someone who doesn’t relize they are sick and want wellnessno matter how much you love them. Take care of yourself and love her till she finds herself.
acg
Excellent letter Dave.
I have a therapist, reg. doctor, p.doc. That’s what has kept me together this long. Without any one of them, I would not be where I am. On the road to recovery and I’m recovering.
I hear what people are saying about not being able to afford these doctors and meds combined. I’ve been in that boat. You pretty much have to be destitute before you get financial assistance.
My disability check goes to meds and doctors copays, therapy copays etc.
My meds and therapy have cost me hundreds and hundreds of dollars per month. That’s a car payment and utilities etc! Who can afford this?
For assistance with meds, check out: pparx.org
David,
I work on an ACT Team which consists of a Psychiatrist, a nurse, a therapist, a mental health associate, a parapro, a rehab counselor, an addictions counselor & a peer specialist. We all work together in seeing every client in their homes or in the community at least once every week (ACT guidelines require a minimum of 3 visits per wk)& accessible 24 hrs. a day. ACT Programs are entirely paid for by Medicaid & are located all over the place! If anyone is interested, they can contact the state DHR office for more detailed information regarding their states & just what is available or they can call the state crisis & access line to get similar info. In the state of GA, the GCAL # is: 1-800-715-4225.
I do not have Bi-Polar D/O, but my daughter was diagnosed in High School. I spent, though, 3 yrs in a Day Treatment Program, among other things & it filled many of my needs, but I still had to go home & deal w/ me, all alone. It is there that ACT is the most beneficial!
I know firsthand the necessity of having a team as a major stablilizing factor when someone “suffers” from a form of bipolar or most other mental illnesses. I have a litiny of diagnosis but it is the Bipolor II that has been the most dehbilitating in my life.I describe that one “suffers” from mental illness so it is made clear that it is an illness, just like a physical illness,that there can be intense disruption in a person’s whole life,so one suffers from it not just “has” it. I had a team consisting of a “pdoc, therapist and family doctor”. They made sure that close check was kept on my progress or lack of. In November my therapist was taken away from me (from Canada,on disability, medicare) and since I can’t afford to pay on my own I have noticed a radical decline in my mental health in a very short period of time. I needed more than one person to keep track of things and the therapist was an integral part.I had a “team” for about 20 years and now without one part of that essential part of my team I am floundering.I found that my therapist was important because at least for 55 minutes every second week I could count on having someone, who was removed from the scene, to listen to me. Fortunately I still have a family doctor and psychiatrist but they can’t have the close contact you have with a therapist because when you are a rapid-cycler like I am things can go sour very quick.y.
n ptsd. when he went iinto a full blown episode she treated him, got him back on one med. and advised the clinic thst he gets injections of respiridone every 2 wks. now he is cout committed and what a mess this has caused. when he met her 5 yrs. ago she got him off inj. of differant meds. and now because she does not want him as a patient in her private practice this happened, i really dont want to go back to her and feel she never should have ever treated both of us. can anyone give me any advise… debbie
My mother will not admit she has a problem and is willing to get help. I have to endure so much from her, I have at this point in my life chosen to not see her or talk to her. The last email she sent me is below:
Remember the dream I had in 1980.
Where God told me “It doesn’t matter what others think.”
I keep re-learning that lesson everyday. I didn’t think that lesson would include my own daughter.
But it does. I’m not mad at you. I have just one mission here. And that is : “It doesn’t matter what others think.”
So put your money where your mouth is: You said you offered me half of what you make, that is a lie. You offered to buy some groceries and take my dogs to the Vet is all. And I turned you down because I know that you have cost me when I have dealings with you concerning money.
So put your money where your boastful mouth is… (see attachment with your signature)
Send a cashiers check in the amount 0f $6,134.00 owed for the van your Dad paid for. Put the check in his name only.
Then you can “leave and not look back” as you and the others said you should do.
I no longer have a daughter / that will cause so much trouble with the trash that comes out of her mouth. Keep score and keep this email Honey and see what you have when you reach the pearly gates.
If you were in Hell begging for ice water I wouldn’t let one drop of my sweat drop on you.
To disrespect your parents as you have done is unforgivable. My dad shot a gun at me and never spoke to me, Randy’s Mom broke a broom handle on his head and we both got whipped often. But you won’t hear one of us talk about our parents the way you have done. And to call your own mother bi-polar when I show emotions is showing me how sinful you are and I don’t want to ever have anything to do with you again.
All I did was send you jokes off the internet like you sent me prayers and jokes – 50 x’s bigger in print. And you are going to say I am bi-polar because I did the same thing you did ! ha! go figure!
All you want to do is to try and prove to the world how mistreated you are so they will pity you and they see thru you and your lies and the reason you are doing it is Jealousy.
Don’t answer this email. I have canceled this email addy, for I have canceled my computer service. Just send the check in Dads name.
Print this out email it to everyone and just remember I still have the email about you telling me that Lee is gay and that he is “Rich” and about you paying $495.00 to a PI to check him out.
But I haven’t showed them to anyone Yet. So how about that check?
This is blackmail. Not only blackmail, but she has been constantly disrespectful of my husband. She said in the email before this one, that she got the jokes of the internet just like I did Lee, and he is a good joke right? Well, I dont understand how anyone can be a supporter of people with bi-polar when they have to endure so much like I have posted above.
I find your emails and information enlightening, but I guess I am like a mule and dig my feet into the ground when it comes to attempting to help her for fear of her wrath. I was abused so much as a child also, that at 37years now, I just want to walk away and let her be.
Is there any advise you have for me?
Thank you for your time reading.
Nicole Harrelson
I just want everyone to know that I paid off my truck down to $3000. This was the only thing in my entire life my mother ever did for me, she gave me the truck for my birthday. She told me I was a looser, slut, druggie and I would never graduate, when I graduated I invited her to my graduation and she said “not if your boyfriend is going to be there”. When I got married, my own father wouldn’t give me away, and my mother wouldn’t help with anything. When I moved out of state she sat and cried like a baby telling me she wished I loved her as much as she loved me. So the truck was the first and only thing they ever did for me. I actually moved back down here to FL to take care of them because of their financial situation and left behind my whole life in Oregon got my own truck repossessed up there and all my belongings to come and work and give them money. Also her emails she sent me are riddles and puzzles of her own words that say I am too good for her, and she is crying and sad. She wont admit names and she didnt just get it off the internet. Everything I deal with her is a lie, and I cant confront her about one thing before she is lieing about another thing to cover up her past lie. She is jealous of me because I work and my husband and I have a nice home. She has never worked her whole life. I have always felt so sorry for her because she is so miserable, I always was the nuturing one to her, and she always tore me apart and was vicious with her words which I never felt the same way she did. It was always sad to me that she seen me in a way that my true heart did not feel. It confused me most of my life, and now I realize what she feels is not necessarily who I am. But I always wanted my mom to be proud of me, but it never happened. I am hard and cold and bitter about most things in my life now, and I am currently working towards finding my happy spirit again. The whole reason for living thing. I do not think it is best for me to keep in touch with her, and I feel extremely sad because she is almost 60 and will probably die before she ever believes she needs help. Which puts in a dugeon any opportunity for a good relationship that is healthy with her. I hate thinking that I will only remember my mom with a disorder that I couldn’t help her with.
Nicole