Bipolar Disorder Treatment Center

About this condition

Bipolar disorder treatment

Bipolar disorder is marked by extreme shifts in mood: manic episodes of exaggerated energy and euphoria, and depressive episodes of hopelessness and exhaustion. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, it affects approximately 2.8% of adults in the United States. Depressive episodes are more common than manic ones, and a mood range can last hours, days, or months, often with leveled-out periods in between.

Untreated bipolar disorder tends to get worse, straining relationships, work, school, and daily life. Many people with bipolar disorder also live with another diagnosable condition — an anxiety disorder, ADHD, PTSD, or a substance use disorder — so treatment has to address the whole picture rather than one diagnosis at a time.

Bipolar disorder treatment runs at Ambrosia Behavioral Health's programs in West Palm Beach, Port St. Lucie, and Singer Island, where a multidisciplinary team builds an individualized plan around each person's symptoms and goals.

Types of bipolar disorder

• Bipolar I

  Defined by at least one manic episode lasting a week or severe enough to require hospitalization — sometimes with a break from reality (psychosis). Most people with Bipolar I also have episodes of major depression. Treatment typically combines psychotherapy with mood stabilizers such as lithium or valproic acid.

• Bipolar II

  Depressive episodes alternating with hypomania, without full-blown mania. The hypomania is milder than Bipolar I's mania, but the depressive episodes can be just as severe — and often more frequent.

• Cyclothymia

  A chronic, milder pattern: hypomanic and depressive symptoms over at least two years that never meet full episode criteria. The swings are shorter and less intense but more persistent, and stable stretches rarely last longer than eight weeks.

• Other types

  Bipolar symptoms that result from drug use, co-occurring mental health issues, certain diseases, or other environmental factors.

Bipolar disorder and addiction

Bipolar disorder and addiction often co-occur — a dual diagnosis. People with bipolar disorder are more likely to have a substance use disorder than people without the condition, and the relationship is driven by several factors:

• Self-medication

  Using sedatives to come down from mania or stimulants to lift a depressive episode — which usually worsens the cycle it was meant to manage.

• Shared risk factors

  Genetic vulnerabilities and environmental triggers, such as trauma or stress, raise the risk of both conditions.

• Overlapping brain effects

  Both conditions affect brain areas tied to reward, motivation, memory, and impulse control, reinforcing each other.

• More severe symptoms

  Substance abuse makes bipolar symptoms harder to treat and raises the risk of suicide, hospitalization, and poor social functioning — which is why both disorders are treated simultaneously.