When to Consider Inpatient Treatment for Bipolar Disorder 

Living with bipolar disorder can feel like standing on the outside, looking in to watch what it’s like to have natural emotional ebbs and flows. It might mean remembering a time when you were able to live this way, but the manic highs and depressive lows inherent in bipolar speak to a different reality. 

It also means being able to relate with others who struggle to keep their emotions and behaviors in check with bipolar disorder or seeing relationships, self-care, or their own welfare suffer as a result.  

According to TAC, the Treatment Advocacy Center, more than half of the people diagnosed with bipolar are resistant to treatment. However, other research debunks this notion. In fact, studies find that this misbelief prompted the clinical community to adopt a more patient-centric approach to treating bipolar disorder. 

Statistics show that although bipolar disorder affects only nearly 3 percent of the population, 83% of those cases are classified as severe. It calls for that very same type of patient-focused intervention when inpatient treatment for bipolar disorder becomes necessary. 

How do you know if inpatient treatment for bipolar disorder is best for you compared to other treatment options? What does it involve? Read more to find out more about bipolar disorder and how this more intensive choice can be the change you seek in your life.  

What Is Bipolar Disorder? 

Bipolar disorder is a serious mental health condition marked by significant, erratic shifts in your mood, energy, thinking, and behavior. The “bi” and “polar” represent two opposing polarities — periods of manic highs and depressive lows that someone with bipolar disorder is unable to control. (One reason why bipolar was previously called manic depression.) 

The mania of bipolar is like a constant state of feeling “up” where you might have an elevated mood, feel full of energy, happy, excited or euphoric. You might perceive these as positives since these qualities can lend themselves to being extra productive or creative at work or school. And in some cases, this might be true.  

But bipolar mania can also be extremely frenzied, where you might talk faster or have racing, almost tangential thoughts that jump from one to another. With bipolar mania, you might engage in impulsive or risky behaviors that could endanger you or others.  

“Although someone with bipolar may find an elevated mood of mania appealing — especially if it occurs after depression — the ‘high’ does not stop at a comfortable or controllable level,” says the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). “Moods can rapidly become more irritable, behavior more unpredictable, and judgment more impaired.”

NAMI adds that most bipolar sufferers are unaware of the negative, even dangerous consequences of their manic phase actions. NAMI notes that in extreme cases of severe mania, bipolar disorder is also linked to high rates of attempted suicide, with 15% to 20% dying of suicide, according to TAC. 

Depressive episodes reside on the other end of the bipolar spectrum. Similar to symptoms of major depressive disorder, you might struggle with feelings of immense, profound sadness, hopelessness or worthlessness, combined with fatigue, difficulty concentrating, and changes in sleep and appetite (either sleeping and eating too much or too little). 

“When people are depressed, even minor decisions such as what to eat for dinner can be overwhelming,” notes NAMI. “They may become obsessed with feelings of loss, personal failure, guilt, or helplessness; this negative thinking can lead to thoughts of suicide.” 

The vacillating states of mania and depression can also extend to how severely someone experiences bipolar disorder. You might experience these ups and downs regularly or go for a long period without any symptoms.  

In extreme cases, bipolar disorder can create hallucinations, delusions, or other psychotic behaviors — one reason why bipolar disorder is sometimes mistaken as borderline personality disorder or misdiagnosed as schizophrenia. 

Types of Bipolar Disorder 

There are three main types of bipolar disorder, and though mania and depression define each of them, they differ in some ways: 

Bipolar I Disorder 

People with bipolar I tend to experience both manic and depressive episodes. You can receive a diagnosis without experiencing depression since bipolar I emphasizes the presence of mania: 

• You must have experienced a manic phase at least once in your life 

• A manic episode must last at least a week or longer 

• Mania must be severe enough to require hospitalization 

Bipolar II Disorder 

Bipolar I and II are similar disorders in most ways. You may have depressive episodes with what are called hypomanic episodes. A less intense type of mania, clinicians determine hypomania based on several criteria, such as: 

• The length of an episode (four days compared to a week for a manic episode) 

• Its severity (hypomania usually doesn’t interfere with one’s daily functioning) 

• Hypomania isn’t usually a factor requiring hospitalization. 

At least one depressive and hypomanic phase together is necessary to be diagnosed with bipolar II.  

Cyclothymic Disorder 

What is cyclothymia? It’s a form of bipolar disorder that’s less severe than bipolar I or II, where you might endure chronic fluctuations of mild depression and hypomania for at least two years. According to NAMI, people with cyclothymic disorder can display normal mood intermittently with mania and depression, but lasting less than eight weeks or two months. 

Additionally, there’s a fourth, unspecified version of bipolar disorder that’s sometimes diagnosed in people who don’t meet the minimum requirements for bipolar I or II. 

What Is Inpatient Treatment for Bipolar Disorder?  

Bipolar disorder inpatient treatment is a type of rehab and recovery where you agree to live onsite at your choice of residential bipolar disorder treatment centers for a scheduled period. There, you’re enabled to commit your full-time, daily focus to healing without any distractions or triggers from your daily environment.   

Unlike outpatient treatment, where you’ll attend therapy during select hours and days of the week and return home each night, inpatient rehab for bipolar disorder is more structured and intensive, with therapy sessions lasting the full day. Many people segue into outpatient treatment once they’ve made progress through inpatient care. 

Signs Someone Needs Residential Treatment for Bipolar Disorder 

When to seek inpatient treatment for bipolar disorder is difficult to discern, maybe more than any other mental health condition, since one’s manic and depressive episodes may come and go.  

If you think you show symptoms of bipolar disorder but you’re unsure if you need to check into a rehab center, take an honest look and ask yourself these questions: 

• Have you experienced severe episodes of mania and acted impulsively without regard to the consequences, like unsafe, promiscuous sex, excessive spending or gambling, unsafe driving, or engaging in violent behavior? 

• Are your manic moments offset by major periods of depression, punctuated by feelings of worthlessness or despondency? Has it become so severe that you struggle with basic self-care or have persistent thoughts of death? 

• Have you considered or attempted suicide? 

• Have you experienced hallucinations or delusional thinking? 

• Have you turned to drugs or alcohol to cope or self-medicate? 

• Lastly, have your family or loved ones been placed in harm’s way due to your bipolar symptoms, or can they no longer ensure your safety? 

These are difficult questions to confront, so don’t feel pressured to address all of them right away. But affirmative answers are key indicators that the higher level of care afforded by inpatient treatment for bipolar disorder might be necessary for you, at least for the time being.