Is Your Parent Dealing
Are you caring for a parent with Bipolar Disorder?
This experience can be very stressful and overwhelming especially if you are a child or a teen taking care of your mum or dad.
To help you with what you can do given your situation and how you can protect your mental health, we have provided some information about what your parent with Bipolar Disorder is going through.
What is Bipolar Disorder?
Bipolar Disorder is a chronic mental health condition or a recurring condition that describes the cycling of moods that is experienced by the person between the two poles of ‘high’ or elevated mood and ‘low’ or depressed mood.
The elevated mood is also referred to as mania, a period of elevated, expansive or irritable mood, high energy levels and inappropriate behaviours. In adults, this constant switching of moods can cause significant problems in familial and social relationships as well as in work. Extreme mood changes can also affect decision making, especially in personal relationships and financial matters. There may also come to a point that parents experiencing extreme Bipolar Disorder will neglect their parental duties during their highest or lowest points.
Symptoms of an Adult or a Parent with Bipolar Disorder
A person with Bipolar I will have extreme manic states, their behaviour quickly escalates and their mania is likely to require hospitalisation.
Bipolar II is considered more common; their manic symptoms are less severe and cause less impairment for the individual. In Bipolar II these episodes are referred to as hypomania.
Bipolar Not Otherwise Specified (NOS) is another diagnosis but of a milder form of Bipolar Disorder whose mood episodes do not last as long or be as severe as symptoms from Bipolar I and II.
A manic episode (high mood) in adults can include the following symptoms:
- Feeling overly confident or extremely euphoric
- Less need for sleep
- Heightened energy
- Excessive talkativeness
- Racing thoughts and easily distracted
- Disjointed or distorted thinking
- Symptoms of psychosis such as hallucinations and delusions
- Inappropriate sexual behaviour
- Decreased ability to make sound or rational decisions
- Increased focus on goal-directed activity
- Loss of interest in things they usually enjoy
Adults in a depressive state (low mood) will experience the opposite of mania:
- Low, sad or pessimistic mood
- Difficulty making decisions
- Uninterested in performing everyday tasks
- Uninterested in activities they once found pleasurable
- Disruptive sleep and sometimes Insomnia
- Loss of appetite and sex drive
- Frequent body pains
- Recurrent thought of death and suicide
- Dependence on drugs and alcohol
- Sensitivity to failure or rejection
What causes Bipolar Disorder?
Bipolar affects 0.6 (Bipolar I) and 0.8 per cent (Bipolar II) of the population in their lives (APA 2013). The most common pattern involves repeated episodes of mania or depression, usually followed by a period of remission.
Several factors may contribute to a person developing Bipolar Disorder such as genetics or hormonal problems. Environmental factors such as abuse, trauma, mental stress, significant loss or substance misuse can also trigger Bipolar Disorder. For women, losing a child during pregnancy or birth highly contributes to developing or triggering Bipolar Disorder. Neurotransmitters, mainly serotonin, norepinephrine and dopamine also affects the brain’s chemical disposition and likely cause Bipolar Disorder.
Diagnosing Parent with Bipolar Disorder
Bipolar Disorder can continue through adulthood when not detected and treated earlier on. Adults that develop Bipolar Disorder during their prime may have suffered a traumatic experience that triggered the condition. Internal and external changes such as a death in the family and mid-life crisis can also trigger Bipolar Disorder.
Other symptoms from mental health conditions like Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) can also display Bipolar-like qualities in adults but are not necessarily part of the diagnosis for Bipolar Disorder. As such, it is necessary to get your parent to a GP or a Psychiatrist so that they can receive professional medical help appropriate for their condition.
A diagnosis involves systematic interviews, mood charting alongside ruling out other behavioural and mental health conditions. For adults to be diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder, they must experience constant or periodical extreme mood changes on most days for at least 6 months.
Treatments of Bipolar Disorder
Though there is no cure for Bipolar Disorder, this mental health condition can be controlled and its symptoms can be subdued. Multidimensional treatment along with medical treatment is the best course of action for adults experiencing Bipolar Disorder. With a combination of three different types of medication; a mood-stabilizing drug, antipsychotics and anti-depressants, adults can experience shorter or less manic and less depressive states during the mood cycles.
Multidimensional treatment, on the other hand, is to help adults on the psychological and social aspects of the mental health condition and make them less dependent on the drug. A multidimensional treatment involves personal counselling, family therapy as well as Psychotherapy. Seek the help of a GP or a Psychiatrist to carefully design a Bipolar Disorder treatment plan for your mum or dad.
How to help your parent with Bipolar Disorder
The best way to help them or anyone experiencing mental health problems is to get them to see a GP or a Psychiatrist for professional help. You can also turn to a mental health phone line or browse online for mental health services to get you the right assistance.
As a child or a teen caring for a parent experiencing Bipolar Disorder, you can help your mum or dad by physically being there for them when things get tough. You can also lessen the worries of your parents by being giving affirmations and reassurances that can calm down their thoughts and emotions.
How to help yourself
It can be difficult for you to see your mum or dad with Bipolar Disorder lose their personal relationships and strain their financial obligations. You may even feel like you are carrying the weight of your family on your shoulders, especially during periods when your mum or dad is on one of their extreme mood cycles. It will even be more painful when you feel like they are neglecting you. But you do not have to go through this alone.
HelpingMinds® offers free and confidential support to Carers or to people who are caring for someone living with mental health challenges. As a child or a teen, it is important that you safeguard your mental health condition. At HelpingMinds®, we offer free counselling and support groups, as well as school holiday programs, family programs, and youth programs.
Get Support from HelpingMinds®
Would you like to know more about free and confidential mental health carer services and how we can support you? Please feel free to contact HelpingMinds® via the form below or on (08) 9427 7100. For one of our team to get back to you, we will require your email address and/or phone number. Please know all information provided will be treated completely confidential and in line with our privacy policy.
