How To Help Your Child Cope With Bipolar With The Right Kind Of Therapy

Having a child with bipolar often causes angst, not only in the child, but also in the other family members in the household. But, since there currently is no cure for bipolar, it is incumbent on everyone in the family to learn to deal with the situation.

Normally, when an adult is diagnosed with bipolar disorder, he is placed on medication. With children, however, much more care is needed in prescribing medicines. This is because, a child is still growing and developing, and you want to ensure that any medications he is given will not adversely impact his brain development. So, as a result, even when medicines are prescribed for children, because of the limited dosages, they will not always have the same effect in a child as they would in an adult.

Due to the exaggerated effects that drugs can often have on a child, therapy is often just as important in treating children with bipolar as drugs are. A prime cause of anxiety in a child with bipolar is his not understanding what is happening to him. And, therapy is one of the best tools available for helping us to understand ourselves.

During the course of speaking with his therapist about his issues, the thought is that he will gradually come to gain an understanding of bipolar and the reasons why it is causing him to behave in a certain manner. It helps to alleviate his frustrations. And, this understanding and demystification of the disease helps to come to calm his reactions to the illness and to come to terms with it. In addition, therapy can provide him with the psychological tools to better control his reactions when with friends and family or when by himself.

Over the years, many forms of therapy have been developed to treat illnesses such as bipolar illness. And, one type of therapy that has shown great utility is one known as social rhythm therapy or treatment. It is a relatively recent type of therapy. And it shows great promise in its ability to treat bipolar disease. This treatment mainly concentrates on helping the child to establish and maintain daily habitual rhythms in their lives.

Specifically, what this means is that the child will be advised and encouraged to set up regular patterns for his daily activities. This includes activities such as sleeping, eating, exercising, homework - everything that he typically does during the course of a normal day. So, for instance, rather than going to bed at random times during the week, he is encouraged to go to bed, every day, at the same time.

And the same is true with eating, school, and other activities that he is involved in throughout the day. By establishing regular patterns, he is subjected to less stresses throughout the day.

The importance of social rhythm therapy is the recognition that, to be most effective, bipolar cannot be treated with drugs alone. By incorporating this type of therapy into his overall treatment, he is able to live a much better quality of life.

By: Julie Frey

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