Feb. 14 marks the origin of the concept of bipolar disorder. On this date in 1854, Jean-Pierre Falret presented the first description of bipolar disorder as a mental illness to the French Imperial Academy of Medicine. What he defined was a circular illness punctuated by manic and melancholic episodes that were separated by symptom-free periods. Today, 5.6 million American adults suffer from bipolar disorder.
If left untreated, bipolar disorder can become a severe, life-hindering disorder. Women with bipolar often suffer from damaged relationships and careers, suicidal thoughts, anxiety, depression, substance abuse and irritability. However, medication alone rarely helps women achieve emotional stability, and residual depressive symptoms are the norm rather than the exception.
Holistic treatment looks beyond medication to include many aspects of life necessary to creating a happy whole. Brookhaven Retreat embraces this philosophy and analyzes all aspects of a woman’s life, including such things as diet, exercise and sleep habits, to help her make the lifestyle and behavioral changes required to ensure that recovery and healing may occur.
By integrating a variety of treatment techniques that include DBT therapy and family therapy, Brookhaven Retreat helps women develop the self-love and therapy techniques required to create a life worth living. By looking at the bigger picture that encompasses medication rather than relies on it, women make the changes necessary to create healthy, happy lives worth living.
