Posted by tabitha on June 22, 2004, at 1:28:09
In reply to Can bipolar 'behaviors' be changed with therapy?, posted by holymama on June 21, 2004, at 17:18:51
Hi, I don't think anyone really knows how much is just brain chemistry going haywire, and how much is psychological. I had bipolar II diagnosis, and after a *lot* of therapy I evened out and was able to reduce meds. The thing that helped most was learning to interpret events differently, so I was less emotionally reactive to interpersonal events. You could call that an attitude change. I also worked a lot on reducing thought distortions-- the typical cognitive therapy stuff.
That all made a huge difference, but it took a really long time. I needed the meds to even be able to do the therapy work. I still have moods, and still have some depression, but nowhere near what it was, and on less meds. So I credit the therapy for that.I think you and your husband are both right-- you know you need the meds to get out of the pit, but he sees that you also need help with the thinking styles that feed the moodswings. Why not combine the two?
Oh, and for me there's a third essential-- keeping basic self-care, a reasonable diet, and a regular sleep schedule. Exercise would no doubt help a lot too, but for now I'm not doing too well with that.
poster:tabitha
thread:358724
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20040614/msgs/358869.html