How to support a person with bipolar disorder?

Being part of the support network of a person with any mental disorder is vital when it comes to crises or episodes of mania and depression. Where to start?

According to the study of suicide risk in Bipolar Disorder (Dome, Rihmer and Gonda, 2019), the risk of death by suicide in people who suffer from this disorder is up to between 10 and 30 times higher than that of the general population. However, when they receive support and the probability decreases.

Understanding what condition the other person has allows you to not take some situations as personal. Unfortunately, there are times when, due to the disorder, People with the diagnosis end up doing it and it is normal for those around them to feel hurt and not so comfortable in the situation.

It is important understand that what is happening is because of a problem and that you cannot abandon the person who lives with this condition. Sadly, it often happens that when the disorder that the loved one has is not understood, their actions or behaviors are simply taken as personal and they are abandoned.

When you understand , is able to provide you with better support. Furthermore, I insist, many times There are very clear warning signs of when a manic depressive episode is going to trigger. So the main watchdog of these signals is the same person, but their support network can also be on the lookout.

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If the people who make up the support network of a person with bipolar disorder notice changes In sleep, in food, in the way they interact, they can make a call and say something like: “I think an episode is coming.”. “Let’s look for a professional, let’s look for a psychologist or psychiatrist to contain the crisis and prevent it from reaching a very complex point.”

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For all this, it is important that if you have a family member or a very close friend who has this condition, you try to learn and get to know it in order to give it the management it requires. We are human beings and we live in large or small communities and when we have the support of that community it is much easier to manage a condition. Call us or write to us at 3330333588