Hi,<\/p>\n
How’s it going? Last night was volunteering at a group
that supports those with mental illness. When I was
there, I noticed there were a whole lot of people
off track. Even though I know that support groups
generally attract those that are least functioning
with bipolar disorder and those supporters who
are having a hard time, it’s always a harsh reality
to see it up close and live.<\/p>\n
I felt bad for a number of people there because
they were suffering. Some were way off track.
One of the situations I saw there that stands
out in my head this morning was the huge mistake
people seem to make with treatment. I call it
treatment jumping.<\/p>\n
What the heck is treatment jumping you might
be asking. Well here is what it is. It’s
when you or your loved one with bipolar disorder
gets on one treatment plan and then you jump
to another treatment plan WITHOUT following
instructions from a doctor. You wind up making
your own decisions because you “feel” it’s the
best thing to do.<\/p>\n
The bottom line is that you have to give any
doctor time to figure out what to do and how
to do it. You can’t expect any doctor to come
up with the right combination of bipolar medication
in a few days or few weeks. <\/p>\n
WARNING!<\/p>\n
Now there is a balance between you right to get a
new doctor and request new treatment if it’s not
working. I realize that. BUT, many people simply
start one treatment. Then stop. Then jump to
something else like herbs or something. Then
they go to a different doctor. Then jump to
another doctor with giving him\/her time
to find the right combination of medication and\/or
other things. Then a person jumps to something
else and eventually months turn into years and
a whole lot of time is wasted.<\/p>\n
There were MANY treatment jumpers in the room
last night. And it wasn’t just the people with
bipolar disorder. Many supporters were encouraging
loved ones to jump treatment. I spoke to one woman
who said, “We have been to 8 doctors in the last
year.” I said, “really? that’s a ton.”<\/p>\n
She said to me, “None of them know what they
are doing.” I informed her how it took my mom’s
doctor who is great several months to get my mom
ALMOST stable. I went on to say if you have been
to 8 doctors in 12 months that’s 1.5 months
each doctor has to help your loved one. That’s
not enough time at all and doesn’t make any
sense.<\/p>\n
I then said, that the person should spend time
to find ONE highly qualified doctor and realize
it’s going to take many months to figure out
the right combination of medication. I said
how you have to give it time and if you jump
from treatment plan to treatment plan it just
delays things because each doctor has to start
over and learn about the patient and that takes
time.<\/p>\n
The person got mad at me and walked away because
I wasn’t telling her what she wanted to hear.
Hmm. But she wasn’t the only one, there were many
others that all were supporting, encouraging or
actually personally treatment jumping. This is a
HUGE mistake I see people make time and time again.
I think it’s because people don’t realize that it
takes time to develop the right treatment plan. <\/p>\n
I took my mom about a solid year to get stable.
If you got any of my courses at:<\/p>\n
SUPPORTING AN ADULT?
Visit:
http:\/\/www.bipolarsupporter.com\/report11<\/p>\n
SUPPORTING A CHILD\/TEEN?
Visit:
http:\/\/www.bipolarparenting.com<\/p>\n
HAVE BIPOLAR DISORDER?
Visit:
http:\/\/www.survivebipolar.net<\/p>\n
You’ll notice I have a cd called “My mom’s story.”
This cd goes over from a to z how long it took
my mom to get stable. I included that cd because
I wanted people to get an idea of how long it
would take for stability to be gained after a major
bipolar disorder episode. I noticed that when I was
supporting my mom, NOBODY would give me an idea
of how long it would take. Without knowing I started
to think things were going badly after only 2 months
but then I just decided we must be on the right track.
I am glad that I did. If we started treatment jumping,
my mom probably wouldn’t be stable today.<\/p>\n
Well, I have to head to work. Have a great day.<\/p>\n
Your Friend,<\/p>\n
Dave<\/p>\n
P.S. Check out my F.ree blog with copies of emails
that I have sent in the past and lots of great
information for you:
http:\/\/www.bipolarcentral.com\/supporterblog\/<\/p>\n
P.P.S Check out my F.ree podcast. Hear me give
mini seminars designed to teach you information
you can’t learn anywhere else.
http:\/\/bipolarcentral.libsyn.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Hi,<\/p>\n
How’s it going? Last night was volunteering at a group
that supports those with mental illness. When I was
there, I noticed there were a whole lot of people
off track. Even though I know that support groups
generally attract those that are least functioning
with bipolar disorder and those supporters who
are having a hard time, it’s always a harsh reality
to see it up close and live.<\/p>\n