Most people approach getting older with a combination of hope and trepidation. As people with bipolar age, one of the many important factors they must consider is how the symptoms of their disorder may be affected.
Does Bipolar Disorder Get Worse or Better With Age?
The impact of mental health conditions such as bipolar age and disorder can change as a person ages. Whether these changes are for the better or worse can depend on a variety of factors, including the quality of their personal support network, the effectiveness of the care they receive, and the types of experiences they have as they get older with bipolar age.
Personal Support
Interpersonal support is important for good mental health, regardless of whether or not a person has a diagnosed condition. For someone with bipolar age or another complex mental illness, the quality of their personal support network can have a significant influence on their ability to manage their symptoms and maintain their health.
As someone with bipolar age, the benefits of an effective personal support network can include:
- Having trusted people to discuss successes and setbacks with, or to turn to when faced with a bipolar-related concern that they’re not sure how to address.
- Preventing them from becoming isolated, which can be a particular concern for those who have major depressive episodes. Isolation can intensify and extend symptoms, while remaining connected can have the opposite effect.
- Getting feedback from people who are close to them, and who may notice early signs of worsening symptoms or other difficulties. This can allow them to take appropriate action before small concerns become major problems.
- Facilitating support that acknowledges the unique needs of individuals at different bipolar age stages, ensuring they receive age-appropriate care and understanding.
Treatment
There are several elements of treatment that can make a substantial difference as people with bipolar age:
- Their willingness to seek treatment: This may seem to be self-evident, because you can’t benefit from treatment if you aren’t willing to get treatment. But for someone with bipolar disorder, simply understanding that they need help can have a tremendous positive impact on their ability to prevent their disorder from worsening as they age with bipolar age.
- The effectiveness of the care they receive: Treatment for bipolar disorder can take many forms and involve a wide range of medications, therapies, and support services. Receiving customized care from a provider that will modify their services to align with the patient’s specific needs can make a world of difference, particularly when it comes to managing bipolar age progression.
- Their adherence to their aftercare plan: Prior to being discharged, patients with bipolar disorder should receive an aftercare plan to guide their continued progress. Whether bipolar disorder gets better or worse with biploar age can depend in part on the degree to which a person adheres to their aftercare plan and continues to follow the guidance they received while they were in treatment.
Life Events
Bipolar disorder doesn’t occur in a vacuum. As a person with bipolar ages, they will face the same types of challenges that people without this condition encounter. These can include:
- Age-related medical and mental health concerns
- Milestone events such as graduating, starting a new job, moving to a new location, buying a house, getting married, and starting a family
- Job changes such as being promoted, retiring, or being laid off
- Loss of loved ones through separation, divorce, and death
- Unexpected traumas such as sudden financial setbacks, automobile accidents, being attacked or assaulted, or significant property damage due to fires, tornadoes, or hurricanes
Both positive and negative life events can be sources of considerable stress. For someone who has been living with bipolar age, these experiences can trigger the onset of a manic or depressive episode, or cause certain symptoms to become more intense.
As the saying goes, we cannot always control what happens to us, but we always have the ability to determine how we respond. For people with bipolar disorder, their response to life events may also contribute to an improvement or worsening of their symptoms.
Can You Build a Tolerance to Bipolar Disorder Drugs?
Many people who receive treatment for bipolar Disorder receive prescription medication as part of their care. The medications that are frequently incorporated into bipolar disorder treatment include antidepressants, antipsychotics, and mood stabilizers.
Once their provider has found the most effective medication and the right dosage level, the patient may continue to take these meds for the rest of their life. However, as people with bipolar age, they may develop a tolerance to these drugs. Tolerance means that the medication won’t have as powerful an effect as it used to.
The possibility of developing tolerance to bipolar disorder meds is one reason why it is so important for patients to have open and honest discussions with their doctor about the intensity of their symptoms and the presence of any adverse effects. If a specific medication stops having its desired effect, the doctor may adjust the patient’s dosage or switch them to another drug.
What to Do If Your Bipolar Disorder Seems to Be Getting Worse
Sometimes, even if you’ve been doing everything you were supposed to, you may discover that your bipolar disorder symptoms are getting worse. As we alluded to earlier, the long-term impact of your worsening symptoms can depend on how you respond to this development.
Here are a few strategies for responding to an intensification of your symptoms:
- Talk to your loved ones: This is an ideal time to activate your personal support network. It’s possible that simply discussing your concerns can help you identify a solution. Also, your loved ones’ perspective can allow them to offer insights that you hadn’t considered.
- Evaluate your circumstances: Have you recently undergone a major life change? Have you been experiencing a greater amount of stress than usual? Are you concerned about your health, or the health of someone you care about? As we also discussed earlier, life events can affect the intensity of your symptoms and your ability to manage them.
- Consult with a professional: If your treatment center offers alumni support services, you may want to look into how they can help you. If not, you may want to consider making an appointment with a therapist or counselor
- Consider a return to treatment: There’s no shame in returning to an inpatient or outpatient treatment program if you need that level of support. Many people need an occasional “tune up” to help them get back on track. Briefly re-entering treatment can prevent a temporary setback from becoming a long-term problem.
Contact Montare About Our Bipolar Disorder Treatment
Montare Behavioral Health offers personalized bipolar disorder treatment at several convenient locations on California and Arizona.
At each of our centers, compassionate professionals provide customized care within a safe and highly supportive environment. We’ll work closely with you to determine which levels of care and types of therapy are right for you, then we’ll develop an individualized treatment plan to help you make sustained progress toward a healthier future. To learn more or to schedule a free assessment, please visit our Admissions page or call us today.
Published: 01/08/2024
