General practitioners are often consulted for first presentations of bipolar disorder and are well placed to coordinate patient care.
Only a mental health professional like a psychiatrist can give you a bipolar disorder diagnosis – not your GP. However, if you're experiencing bipolar moods and symptoms, discussing it with your GP can be a good first step. They can refer you to a psychiatrist, who will be able to assess you.
Treatment is best guided by a medical doctor who specializes in diagnosing and treating mental health conditions (psychiatrist) who is skilled in treating bipolar and related disorders.
To help determine whether someone has bipolar disorder, health care professionals will ask about thoughts, feelings, behaviour, and personal and family medical history. There are no laboratory tests for bipolar disorder, but tests can rule out illnesses that have similar symptoms, such as thyroid disease.
There are a few different healthcare professionals who can prescribe mood stabilisers to you. It may depend on which type of mood stabiliser you are being offered. It may also depend on whether you are just starting to take it or being given ongoing prescriptions. The person who prescribes it may be your doctor (GP).
Have your concerns written down on a sheet of paper to make sure you cover all areas. Be specific as to the problems of bipolar depression, hypomania, or mania. Give specific details of mood symptoms and behaviors to the doctor. Describe any severe mood changes, especially anger, depression, and aggressiveness.
There are many medications for treating bipolar disorder, so a psychiatrist, who is best qualified to identify which drugs work best for a specific patient, should oversee treatment. A psychiatrist is a type of medical doctor (MD or DO) with specialized training in mental health care.
Yes. All disability benefits providers in Canada recognize bipolar as a disability. And it is a condition that can qualify for benefits.
To diagnose bipolar disorder, a doctor performs a physical exam, asks about your symptoms, and recommends blood testing to determine if another condition, such as hypothyroidism, is causing your symptoms. If the doctor does not find an underlying cause of your symptoms, he or she performs a psychological evaluation.
Bipolar disorder, especially subtypes I and II, are difficult to diagnose. In fact, during the first year of seeking treatment, only 20% of patients are correctly diagnosed. The usual time span between a misdiagnosis and an accurate diagnosis of bipolar disorder is 5-10 years.
Cyclothymia, or cyclothymic disorder, causes mood changes – from feeling low to emotional highs. Cyclothymia has many similarities to bipolar disorder.
Bipolar disorder can be confused with other conditions, such as depression, schizophrenia, BPD, anxiety, and ADHD. Detecting and diagnosing bipolar disorder may take some time. But getting a correct, early diagnosis often results in better outcomes.
Cyclothymia symptoms alternate between emotional highs and lows. The highs of cyclothymia include symptoms of an elevated mood (hypomanic symptoms). The lows consist of mild or moderate depressive symptoms. Cyclothymia symptoms are similar to those of bipolar I or II disorder, but they're less severe.
Approximately 1 in 50 Australians (1.8%) will experience bipolar disorder during their lifetime. There are three types of bipolar disorder (Bipolar I Disorder, Bipolar II Disorder and Cyclothymic Disorder). All three types involve strong changes in mood, energy, and activity levels.
Psychiatric nurse practitioners can diagnose and treat all psychiatric, emotional, and behavioral disorders, including bipolar disorder, substance abuse, anxiety, and depression. Nurse practitioners can work autonomously and can do the same things in appointments with patients as psychiatrists.
On average, there's a 9.5-year delay between someone seeing a doctor about a symptom of bipolar and getting an accurate diagnosis. Any delay in diagnosis can mean you don't get the treatment you need.
Bipolar disorder can occur at any age, although it often develops between the ages of 15 and 19 and rarely develops after 40. Men and women from all backgrounds are equally likely to develop bipolar disorder. The pattern of mood swings in bipolar disorder varies widely between people.
If you have Bipolar Disorder, you could be eligible for a tax credit from the CRA. This credit of up to $50,000 can be given retroactively. For your free, no-obligation assessment, call today.
Generally, SSDI payments can range from an average of $800 and $1800 per month, although those amounts can be more or less depending upon your particular circumstances.
In Canada, 2.2% of individuals will experience bipolar disorder at some point in their lifetime. Bipolar disorder usually starts in late adolescence or early adulthood, but it can also begin as early as childhood.
Lithium: The first mood stabilizer for bipolar disorder. Mood stabilizers are medications that help control the highs and lows of bipolar disorder. They are the cornerstone of treatment, both for mania and depression. Lithium is the oldest and most well-known mood stabilizer and is highly effective for treating mania.
The most widely used drugs for the treatment of bipolar disorder include lithium carbonate and valproic acid (also known as Depakote or generically as divalproex). Lithium carbonate can be remarkably effective in reducing mania, although doctors still do not know precisely how it works.
Bipolar I disorder is the most severe form of the illness. Bipolar II disorder is characterized by predominantly depressive episodes accompanied by occasional hypomanic episodes. Hypomanic episodes are milder than manic episodes but can still impair functioning.