Getting the Treatment you Need
Depression and bipolar disorder are mood
disorders, real physical illnesses that affect a person’s moods,
thoughts, body, energy and emotions. Both illnesses, especially
bipolar disorder, tend to follow a cyclical course, meaning they
have ups and downs.
Treatment for
these illnesses can also have ups and downs. Wellness might not
happen overnight. It is normal to wish you could feel better,
faster, or to worry that you will never feel better. However,
you can feel better, and you can do things to help yourself.
Relief of
symptoms is only the first step in treating depression or
bipolar disorder. Wellness, or recovery, is a return to a life
that you care about. Recovery happens when your illness stops
getting in the way of your life.
You decide what
recovery means to you. Talk to your health care provider (HCP)
about what you need to reach this recovery. Your HCP can provide
the treatment(s) and/or medication(s) that work best for you.
Along the way, you have a right to ask questions about the
treatments you are getting and choose the treatments you want.
It can also be helpful to work with a therapist, family member,
or fellow support group participant to help define your
recovery. Your definition may change at different times in your
life.
Treatments that
work can help you:
-
Reach your
goals (for example, by helping reduce symptoms such as fear
or disinterest)
-
Build on
the strengths you do have and the things you can do
-
Plan your
care based on your needs
-
Live your
life without the interference of symptoms
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