Mayo Clinic Health Manager
Get free personalized health guidance for you and your family.
Get Started
About our e-newsletters
- Free e-newsletters
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- We do not share your e-mail address
Housecall, our weekly general-interest e-newsletter, keeps you up to date on a wide variety of health topics with timely, reliable, practical information, recipes, blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts and more. Our biweekly topic-specific e-newsletters also include blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts, and other useful information that will help you manage your health.
Housecall Archives
Mayo Clinic Housecall
Stay up to date on the latest health information.
What you get
- Free weekly e-newsletter
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- Recipes, tools and other helpful information
- We do not share your e-mail address
When to seek medical advice
By Mayo Clinic staffIf you have any symptoms of bipolar disorder, seek medical help as soon as possible. Bipolar disorder doesn't get better on its own. Yet many people with the disorder don't get treatment or are reluctant to get treatment. Despite the mood extremes, people with bipolar disorder often don't recognize how greatly it affects their lives — and the lives of their loved ones. And if you're like some people with bipolar disorder, you may enjoy the feelings of euphoria and cycles of being more productive — but they're bound to be followed by emotional crashes that can leave you depressed, worn out, and perhaps in financial or legal trouble.
Getting treatment from a mental health provider with experience in bipolar disorder can help you learn ways to manage your symptoms. If you're reluctant to seek treatment, try to work up the courage to confide in someone, whether it's a friend or loved one, a health care professional, a faith leader or someone else you trust. They can help you take the first steps to successful treatment.
When you have suicidal thoughts
Suicidal thoughts and behavior are common among people with bipolar disorder. Tragically, the suicide rate is higher in bipolar disorder than most other mental illnesses. If you're considering suicide right now and have the means available, talk to someone now. The best choice is to call 911 or your local emergency services number. If you simply don't want to do that, for whatever reason, you have other choices for reaching out to someone:
- Contact a family member or friend
- Contact a doctor, mental health provider or other health care professional
- Contact a minister, spiritual leader or someone in your faith community
- Go to your local hospital emergency room
- Call a crisis center or hot line
Helping a loved one with bipolar disorder symptoms
If you have a loved one you think may have symptoms of bipolar disorder, have an open and honest discussion about your concerns. You may not be able to force someone to seek professional help, but you can offer encouragement and support and help your loved one find a qualified doctor or mental health provider. If you have a loved one who has harmed himself or herself, or is seriously considering doing so, take them to the hospital or call for emergency help.
