Bipolar Disorder

Extreme emotional highs and lows are telltale signs of bipolar disorders, but understanding your unique type and symptoms can help you regain control of your mental health. Serving the Washington, DC, metropolitan area in Bowie, Maryland, the licensed mental health care providers of The Modalities Group use individualized therapeutic techniques to help you cope with the symptoms of bipolar disorders. Call the mental health center today or schedule an appointment online to learn more.

What are bipolar disorders?

Bipolar disorders are mental health conditions that cause intense mood swings. Individuals with bipolar disorders experience extreme emotional highs and lows. While manic episodes can make a person feel joyful, energetic, and invincible, depressive episodes cause severe sadness, hopelessness, and fatigue.

Understanding the type of bipolar disorder you have enables the experienced mental health providers at The Modalities Group to design a comprehensive care plan that stabilizes your mood and helps you manage fluctuating emotions.

Are there different types of bipolar disorders?

There are many types of bipolar disorders, including:

Bipolar I

Bipolar 1 disorder causes at least one manic episode, though many people also experience depressive and hypomanic episodes, which are less intense forms of mania.

Bipolar II

Individuals with bipolar II disorder experience at least one depressive episode and one hypomanic episode.

Cyclothymia

Cyclothymia is a form of bipolar disorder that includes multiple cycles of hypomania and depression that feel less consuming than bipolar I or II.

Unspecified bipolar

Individuals with unspecified bipolar disorder don’t quite fit the criteria for bipolar I, bipolar II, or cyclothymia, but they still experience intense mood swings.

Rapid cycling bipolar

Rapid cycling can occur in any type of bipolar disorder. It develops when a person experiences at least four episodes of hypomania, mania, or depression in one year.

Bipolar with mixed features

Bipolar disorder with mixed features causes emotional highs and lows in a single episode rather than specific periods of mania, hypomania, and depression.

Bipolar with seasonal pattern

Individuals who experience depressive periods in the fall and winter and manic episodes in spring and summer may have bipolar with seasonal patterns.

What are the treatments for bipolar disorders?

While there is no cure for bipolar disorder, a combination of medication and therapy can help manage your emotions during depressive and manic episodes. Psychotherapy, or talk therapy, is the most common type. There are several subdivisions of psychotherapy, including:

Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT)

CBT involves identifying negative thoughts and behavioral patterns and developing healthier, more helpful reactions to the challenges of bipolar disorder.

Acceptance-commitment therapy (ACT)

ACT is similar to CBT, but instead of focusing on changing unhelpful thoughts and behaviors, this technique prioritizes accepting that these emotions are not inherently negative.

Dialectical behavior therapy

Dialectical behavior therapy focuses on practicing mindfulness and tolerance, improving your ability to accept and move past fleeting emotions or thoughts.

Call The Modalities Group today or schedule an appointment online to learn more about bipolar disorders.