{"id":12782,"date":"2019-05-14T08:20:36","date_gmt":"2019-05-14T15:20:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bipolarhappens.com\/bhblog\/?p=12782"},"modified":"2019-05-14T08:20:36","modified_gmt":"2019-05-14T15:20:36","slug":"10-top-myths-about-bipolar-disorder","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bipolarhappens.com\/bhblog\/10-top-myths-about-bipolar-disorder\/","title":{"rendered":"10 Top Myths About Bipolar Disorder"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"

Julie Fast holding Lithium<\/p><\/div>\n

My latest article for Health Central<\/a> tackles the biggest myths I see in the bipolar world today. I wonder which ones you find interesting or those that might not be your opinion!<\/p>\n

Here is one that many find surprising.<\/p>\n

MYTH: Medication Should be the First-Line Treatment for Bipolar Disorder.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

This myth often shocks people, and please know that I\u2019m not saying that meds don\u2019t work. They’re an essential part of any plan. I use them daily for certain symptoms, but they’re rarely enough to stop mood swings. To truly manage bipolar, the majority of people with the illness must regulate sleep, focus on healthy relationships, and avoid triggering behaviors (traveling without careful planning, accepting shift work, taking too many classes) and substances (antidepressants, stimulants, steroids, and marijuana due to THC).<\/p>\n

If our lifestyle increases bipolar symptoms, all medications can do is keep a lid on a boiling pot. Side effects are the number one complaint about medications. By focusing on lifestyle changes first, we reduce the need for high doses of medications and automatically reduce nasty side effects. In my opinion, medications are for what we can\u2019t manage on our own.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s true that there’s a dogma that medications are the only treatment for bipolar,” says Jim Phelps, M.D., the author of three books on bipolar and founder of psycheducation.org <\/a>. “It\u2019s entrenched in much of the literature, but it\u2019s just not correct. Putting management techniques first and meds second is so important.\u201d Our current health care system is behind the curve when it comes to this myth. Medications are important, but lifestyle education comes first.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

**<\/p>\n

Click here to read 10 Top Myths about Bipolar Disorder from Health Central.<\/a><\/p>\n

Julie\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/h1>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

Julie Fast holding Lithium<\/p>\n

My latest article for Health Central<\/a> tackles the biggest myths I see in the bipolar world today. I wonder which ones you find interesting or those that might not be your opinion!<\/p>\n

Here is one that many find surprising.<\/p>\n

MYTH: Medication Should be the First-Line Treatment for Bipolar Disorder.<\/p>\n

This myth often shocks people, and please know that I\u2019m not saying that meds don\u2019t work. They’re an essential part of any plan. I use them daily for certain symptoms, but they’re rarely enough to stop mood swings. To truly manage bipolar, the majority of people with the illness must regulate sleep, focus on healthy relationships, and avoid triggering behaviors (traveling without careful planning, accepting shift work, taking too many classes) and substances (antidepressants, stimulants, [ Read More ]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12504,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[],"tags":[182],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bipolarhappens.com\/bhblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12782"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bipolarhappens.com\/bhblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bipolarhappens.com\/bhblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bipolarhappens.com\/bhblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bipolarhappens.com\/bhblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12782"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.bipolarhappens.com\/bhblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12782\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12783,"href":"https:\/\/www.bipolarhappens.com\/bhblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12782\/revisions\/12783"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bipolarhappens.com\/bhblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12504"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bipolarhappens.com\/bhblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12782"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bipolarhappens.com\/bhblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12782"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bipolarhappens.com\/bhblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12782"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}