[marmaduke]

Last night on channel 4 (UK) there was a program called 'Being Bipolar' this therapist insisted talking therapy could cure bi polar. I found her very irritating.

I disagree as I believe it to be genetic

What do you think?

[scatterbrained04]

I don't believe therapy can "cure" bipolar. It can, however, help you manage it. They can be a good tool in noticing moods shifting before you might know so that you can be proactive sooner. They can also help you with relationship issues bp might be causing and help you with better coping strategies. I used to go but don't anymore. I probably should, but my son has mental health issues too and stuff gets expensive. I WAS paying 3 prescriptions x 2, psychiatrist x 2, and therapy x 2. Had to cut therapy out. Wish I did have the money for us both to go though.

[UpDownMiddleGround]

I go to therapy every week. We talk about coping strategies -- thing i can do to manage. Everybody is different. I don't see it as a cure. Especially not in isolation.

[gayleggg]

I believe that therapy can help someone with bipolar but I don't believe it alone can cure it. I've been in therapy for many years, it helps but I'm still bipolar.

I believe, in my case, therapy has been much more effective in managing my symptoms than medication ever was. While on meds I never was able to achieve any real stability; I continued to require repeated hospitalizations and med changes, but the real change for me came through therapy. Medication never prevented episodes, so I finally rejected the idea that I had to be on meds all the time as a preventative measure; they simply never worked that way for me.

Learning to manage my symptoms in healthy ways, making definite lifestyle changes, learning to handle situtions that used to trigger me into depressive episodes that I used to get stuck in and they'd take on a life of their own, etc. have been what really has helped me find stability. In my case, depressive episodes were my major problem, while manic episodes were extremely rare.

I haven't been on meds for almost a year now, haven't been hospitalized in that time, haven't had any episodes that I was not able to manage in the last year. That's huge for me since in the years before I had been hospitalized over a dozen times.

Will I have more episodes? Probably. Will they require meds to get through them? Maybe, but I can see now where meds won't have to be a lifetime prospect for me but rather something I might have to do from time to time to manage an episode if it gets beyond my coping abilities. Will I have to be hospitalized again? I hope not. Right now I don't foresee that I couldn't use my skills to manage future episodes, but I would not be against the hospital if I should ever find myself in that place again.

This is MY experience and I completely am only speaking about my own life and my own experience with my own bipolar symptoms. I think all of us have a different road to travel with bipolar disorder which is what makes this such a difficult illness to manage and to get others to even comprehend.

[Nammu]

For BP it takes both therapy and meds to get stable, once you gotten stable one or the other may help mantain the stability but neither will cure it. You can get a remission for long periods of time but you will still have BP.

[Capriciousness]

Who was this lady? Those are dangerous things to say. I went to a chiropractor who told me Bipolar wasnt real and she could fix it by aligning my spine. I had to laugh. She said the same thing about my thyroid disorder.

For me it depends on the TYPE of therapy. It is not one thing. There are many different kinds. For me it has usually made things much much worse in the throes of an episode. Especially a depression. I have found some things useful for lessening triggers like from my family etc. and other tools and skills have helped just in managing.

But for me reading on my own, and talking to friends etc has been more helpful. But I'm not at all talking cure here. No cure. Just helping to manage. Even that I take with a grain of salt. I'm the opposite of the lolagrace. I tried everything forever but it wasn't until meds that I gained real stability. Ever since meds I really never go to therapy. Though I have a therapist I could go to and my pdoc is a psychotherapist too.

[marmaduke]

Originally Posted by Capriciousness

Who was this lady? Those are dangerous things to say. I went to a chiropractor who told me Bipolar wasnt real and she could fix it by aligning my spine. I had to laugh. She said the same thing about my thyroid disorder.

For me it depends on the TYPE of therapy. It is not one thing. There are many different kinds. For me it has usually made things much much worse in the throes of an episode. Especially a depression. I have found some things useful for lessening triggers like from my family etc. and other tools and skills have helped just in managing.

But for me reading on my own, and talking to friends etc has been more helpful. But I'm not at all talking cure here. No cure. Just helping to manage. Even that I take with a grain of salt. I'm the opposite of the lolagrace. I tried everything forever but it wasn't until meds that I gained real stability. Ever since meds I really never go to therapy. Though I have a therapist I could go to and my pdoc is a psychotherapist too.

The woman was psychotherapist Philippa Perry. who wrote the book How to stay sane,
Being Bipolar: A Dangerous View on the Illness | Shadi-Sade Sarreshtehdarzadeh
A silly woman!

[wiretwister]

I believe bp is a chemical issue with the brain,, when that is far enough off kilter I believe meds are required,however if the balance is closer to "normal" then therapy can improve your quality of life.. coping skills are imparative though ,, each of us has a path set out I hope your's is long and happy...just my opinion.

[lunaticfringe]

For me I'd say it really depends on who the therapist is.

I had one therapist who I saw for years and she helped me tremendously. She was very experienced, skilled, and really cared about her work. Unfortunately she went on sabbatical and I don't see her anymore...

On the other hand I've seen more than one therapist who were unprofessional, inexperienced, biased, and just generally made me feel a lot worse.

For me, nothing has helped me more than meds and proper self care.

[Skywalking]

My therapy was useless. Lamotrigine fixed the problem I went in for. Your mileage may vary, I suck at therapy and my bipolar is mild.

[RisuNeko]

I've had some pretty bad therapists, especially at my college campus and after college at the clinic I went to after that. My new therapist seems somewhat better, but we don't spend a lot of time together, and by now I've had so much therapy that she's not really giving me new information a lot of the time so it's hard to be motivated to put it into practice when it didn't work the first time around.

[ozzy1313]

Regular therapy has never really helped much. Many years ago I did intensive outpatient CBT and that was very helpful. Am in individual therapy now and it doesn't do much but it gives me a safe place to vent. I start DBT and am hoping and praying that it helps. The highs and lows are going to always be there, but it is very obvious to me that I have major emotional reactions to things that I think can be changed/helped with therapy.

When I am imobile on the cough and suicidal I don't think there is a therapy on earth that will help- I need medication to pull me out

[dshantel]

It's my first time raging out for help and I just see a therapist. She suspects me to be bipolar. So far we've just been talking about ways to cope like journaling, which I like because it's easier than trying to tell her what's in my head and also breathing techniques. I do find these somewhat helpful but it's not helping my issues to go away. I'm not on any medicine and I still feel like I have problems that need to be taken care of.

[Resident Bipolar]

You can read my full review and opinion on the matter here so I won't go into depth in this reply.

Yes, therapy can do wonders for those with Bipolar Disorder and most other mental illnesses, personality disorders and issues in personal lives. The difference between a UK Psychotherapist and a Community Psychiatric Nurse is an important distinction to make though. A psychotherapist often has a basic qualification, which in the UK doesn't currently have to be a particular degree or qualification. A community psychiatric nurse (CPN) is different - they are the people that the NHS employ to give CBT and DBT in most areas at both CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services) and the adult CMHT (Community Mental Health Team). These people are trained at degree level with a Nursing degree and then have specialised training in mental health and placements at the local CAMHS/CMHT, where they have to sit in appointments with patients of another mental health nurse or psychiatrist while on their course.

Sometimes, instead of seeing a CPN for CBT or DBT, you'll actually see a clinical psychologist who will have had a degree in psychology and a further three years of training in the field of psychology before they become fully qualified to practice in their role for the NHS. Counselling, psychotherapy and actual medical therapies (such as CBT) are different things. The most effective treatments, statistically speaking, are CBT and DBT when given by a qualified mental health nurse, CPN or clinical psychologist.

CBT and DBT can be effective when treating mental illnesses, including Bipolar Disorder. Often, the most effective treatment with someone with Bipolar is a mixture of behavioural therapies and medication - not one or the other. Personally, therapy did not help at all and it didn't help my Bipolar relatives either.

The biggest issue I had with Philippa Perry is that, as a psychotherapist, she is extremely biased and therefore shouldn't have been the main presenter of the documentary. She also isn't particularly qualified, which is why she didn't seem to understand Bipolar very well. And the only thing she had to say on Twitter after the program had aired and there was a huge backlash, was a tweet about her book. As far as I saw it, the documentary was a chance to promote her profession, services and her book by almost completely dismissing medication as a treatment.

There was very little in the way of qualified experts giving their views either. It was all very one - sided.

You can get an example of how little she knows by all the questions she had to ask. Including one where she asked a short featured doctor if medication can cure Bipolar, and then acting shocked at the fact that it can. I don't think any medical professional in the field has ever suggested Bipolar can be cured by medication. In fact, even though Bipolar Disorder is treatable can be manageable, it cannot be cured - the general consensus among researchers, patients and psychiatrists alike.

[tommyp]

I saw my therapist for six years, until she said that I was doing much better and did't need to go any more.

[venusss]

I do think the right therapy can one teach you a lot of coping skills... which is invaluable. And it can help one to straighten up the messes they made, which is also needed in many cases.

But has to be right kind of therapy. Hugs and teddybears will probably do nothing in long term.

[Victoria'smom]

my therapist said it best."we're not trying to cure it. Just make it less torturous. " I think it depends on why your in therapy.

Therapy has helped me tremendously. I did an outpatient CBT course when I was 18 and I still use those skills every day. I have had a few "top ups" of CBT over the years, some specific to depression, some specific to anxiety and some specific to ocd.

I did 6 weeks of an outpatient DBT course (it was an 8 week course) I did not find this helpful in the slightest as what I was being taught I already practiced and I could not relate to anyone in my group as they were all BPD and would go batshit at the drop of a hat when something triggered them, where as when I am on the low side or stable I am very cruisey and dont let little things like for example, their boyfriends being 2 minutes late back from work and then accusing them of cheating etc affect me.

I have regular weekly psychotherapy appointments with my pdoc who is qualified in both psychotherapy and psychiatry. We dont focus on a particular model of psychology but what events are happening in my life and what skills I use to deal with it. Also reminders of self care and remembering to reward and congratulate myself when I have handled things well.

I see another psychiatrist (for meds and admissions) who while not specifically trained in psychology, gives me some wonderful tips and tricks when my distress is so high. (His favourite one to tell me to do at the moment is freezing cold showers. That is NOT fun but he is right, it puts my body into a bit of shock and reduces the distress.)

I am consistently getting told I have extremely good insight and very good coping skills. My docs have a hard time convincing me that I am rational and sane - I dont believe them because of what others say about me, so thats what we are working on now - that I am a rational person and think things through in a calm and suitable manner.

They also build up my self confidence as they seem to be the only ones that believe in my ability to live a successful life.

Therapy has been helpful, but I need meds.
I have learned in therapy to realize when I am going up and when I am going down. I now understand about bipolar. She has helped me identify what is a symptom and what is not. And she has helped me to understand what is important to stay level.
Also, I read a ton of books, which has helped tremendously.

[stressedmama]

Originally Posted by Capriciousness

Who was this lady? Those are dangerous things to say. I went to a chiropractor who told me Bipolar wasnt real and she could fix it by aligning my spine. I had to laugh. She said the same thing about my thyroid disorder.

I just sprayed my soda everywhere laughing at that one. That's hysterical!!