{"id":718,"date":"2009-05-06T18:27:06","date_gmt":"2009-05-06T18:27:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bipolarhappens.com\/bhblog\/how-to-manage-bipolar-disorder-when-you-dont-have-insurance\/"},"modified":"2018-05-15T10:01:20","modified_gmt":"2018-05-15T17:01:20","slug":"how-to-manage-bipolar-disorder-when-you-dont-have-insurance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bipolarhappens.com\/bhblog\/how-to-manage-bipolar-disorder-when-you-dont-have-insurance\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Manage Bipolar Disorder… when you don’t have insurance:"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bipolar Disorder with no Health Care Insurance: What are my options? <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/o><\/font><\/span>I just received this question via Twitter.\u00a0 <\/span>It\u2019s such an important topic, I wanted to give as many tips and resources as possible. These tips are all excellent ideas, even if you do have insurance! <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/o><\/font><\/span>**<\/o><\/font><\/span>Hi Julie, Someone I love is battling bp. I really want 2 help her. She can’t afford insurance. We live in NY. Don’t like 2 see her suffer. advice?<\/o><\/font><\/span>Here is my reply: <\/o><\/font><\/span>No insurance to treat bipolar disorder? \u00a0<\/span>There are ways to get the help you need! <\/o><\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Contact your local NAMI or DBSA<\/span> and see if they resources for local organizations that help those without insurance. Here are their web addresses www.nami.org<\/font><\/a> and www.dbsalliance.org<\/font><\/a>.\u00a0 <\/span>If you live in a larger city- there are often branches in your area. <\/o><\/span><\/span><\/font><\/li>\n
  2. Check to see if your state has a low income insurance plan. Often they are full- but if you get on the wait list for the future, there is a chance. \u00a0<\/span><\/o><\/font><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n
  3. Ask everyone you know if there is a free clinic- low income clinic or a teaching hospital where you can get help. I also suggest calling a hospital psych department- they usually have a lot of information. \u00a0<\/span><\/o><\/font><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n
  4. Visit <\/font>www.moodgarden.org<\/a><\/font> for peer support.\u00a0 <\/span>There are probably many there who can offer advice. <\/o><\/font><\/span><\/li>\n
  5. Let your health care professional know you don\u2019t have insurance and ask them about any prescription assistance that may be available to you. You can also research this on your own by visiting\u00a0<\/font><\/span>www.needymeds.org.<\/font><\/span><\/a> Almost all drug companies have drug assistance programs- you can\u00a0go to their main site\u00a0for more information.\u00a0Pharmacies such as in Wal-Mart offer generics for as little as $4. Here is a PDF link to the bipolar disorder medications they cover. It\u2019s a much longer list than you might expect! <\/font>http:\/\/i.walmartimages.com\/i\/if\/hmp\/fusion\/customer_list.pdf<\/font><\/a> <\/font><\/span><\/o><\/span><\/li>\n
  6. Work as a team.\u00a0 <\/span>You both have to learn to manage the triggers that lead to bipolar disorder symptoms. \u00a0<\/span>You can do this through my books, exercising together, working on relationship skills and talking in the most positive and hopeful terms possible. Bipolar disorder is an illness that affects a person\u2019s ability to manage their emotions- the better you two communicate with each other- the less mood swings for your partner! My book Get it Done When You\u2019re Depressed: 50 Strategies for Keeping Your Life on Track<\/em> is very action oriented- there are many ideas in Get it Done When You\u2019re Depressed that you can use together. My book Take Charge of Bipolar Disorder:\u00a0A\u00a0Four Step Plan for\u00a0You and Your\u00a0Loved Ones to Manage the Illness and Create Lasting Stability<\/em>\u00a0is oriented towards the person with the illness, but there are many tips for partners in there as well.\u00a0 <\/span>Both books are available in stores, online and in the library. <\/o><\/font><\/span><\/li>\n
  7. Visit the bipolarhappens.com blog at <\/font>www.bipolarhappens.com\/bhblog<\/font><\/a>.\u00a0 <\/span>There is a relationships category on the right. I also talk extensively about how to manage the illness throughout the blog. <\/o><\/font><\/span><\/li>\n
  8. A person\u2019s ability to manage the illness on their own and with the help of others is far, far more important than only relying on medications. <\/span><\/o><\/font><\/span><\/li>\n
  9. Reduce symptoms as much as possible so that you need fewer doctor visits and less \u00a0<\/span>bipolar disorder medications. \u00a0<\/span>I know that when I practice what I teach in my Health Cards Treatment System for Bipolar Disorder I need less anxiety or anti psychotic meds, etc. Taking care of myself also means I don\u2019t have to rely on my Lamictal (generic Lamotrigine) as much. \u00a0<\/span>You can read about the Health Cards at <\/font>www.bipolarhappens.com<\/font><\/a> \u2013 and yes, there are variable rates for people who need financial help purchasing the treatment plan.\u00a0 <\/span><\/font><\/span><\/o><\/span><\/li>\n
  10. And most importantly, read my book Loving Someone with Bipolar Disorder: Understanding and Helping Your Partner.<\/em>\u00a0 <\/span>For the cost of a dinner out, this book will give you all of the tools you need to manage the illness as a couple. Of course, it\u2019s better if you can do it with bipolar disorder medications as well- but I know from experience that this book can cut symptoms by as much as half and it saves relationships as well! \u00a0<\/span>This was one of the top selling bipolar disorder books in the world last year. It\u2019s also available in most US libraries- if not, you can request that they order it. If you go to a book store and read the chapter The Bipolar Conversation- you can learn more in a few minutes on how to manage the illness than you ever thought possible! <\/span><\/o><\/font><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    <\/o>\u00a0<\/font><\/span>As we all know, the health care insurance system in the US is very broken. This is especially hard for people with bipolar disorder as we need to manage the illness daily. It really is up to us to do all that we can to stay healthy while we look for health care. There is hope and there are a lot of options as you can see. Your partner is very lucky to have you. When you work together, stability and a strong relationship are the rewards!\u00a0<\/o><\/font><\/span><\/o>\u00a0<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

    <\/span>Julie Fast<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

    Bipolar Disorder with no Health Care Insurance: What are my options? <\/p>\n

    I just received this question via Twitter. It\u2019s such an important topic, I wanted to give as many tips and resources as possible. These tips are all excellent ideas, even if you do have insurance! <\/p>\n

    **Hi Julie, Someone I love is battling bp. I really want 2 help her. She can’t afford insurance. We live in NY. Don’t like 2 see her suffer. advice?Here is my reply: No insurance to treat bipolar disorder? There are ways to get the help you need! <\/p>\n

    Contact your local NAMI or DBSA and see if they resources for local organizations that help those without insurance. Here are their web addresses www.nami.org<\/a> and www.dbsalliance.org<\/a>. If you live in a larger city- there are often branches in your area. Check to see if your state has a low income insurance plan. Often they are full- [ Read More ]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bipolarhappens.com\/bhblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/718"}],"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=718"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.bipolarhappens.com\/bhblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/718\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12005,"href":"https:\/\/www.bipolarhappens.com\/bhblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/718\/revisions\/12005"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bipolarhappens.com\/bhblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=718"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bipolarhappens.com\/bhblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=718"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bipolarhappens.com\/bhblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=718"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}

    <\/o><\/font><\/span>www.juliefast.com<\/font><\/a> <\/o><\/font><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"