Bipolar Disorder Treatment
Bipolar disorder brings intense shifts in mood and energy that can feel impossible to manage, especially when substance use is involved. At New Wave in Salisbury, MA, we treat bipolar disorder alongside addiction with coordinated, whole-person care.
Understanding Bipolar Disorder
Bipolar disorder involves significant shifts in mood, energy, and activity, from emotional highs known as mania or hypomania to deep lows of depression. These shifts go well beyond ordinary mood changes and can disrupt relationships, work, and daily life. With the right treatment, however, bipolar disorder can be managed well.
Bipolar disorder and substance use very frequently occur together. Some people use substances to manage the highs or lows, and substance use can intensify mood episodes and make the condition harder to stabilize. This makes coordinated dual-diagnosis treatment especially important.
What Causes Bipolar Disorder?
Bipolar disorder is a brain-based condition shaped by genetics and life experience.
Bipolar disorder has a strong biological and genetic basis. It involves differences in brain structure and chemistry that affect how mood and energy are regulated, which is why it tends to run in families. It is a medical condition, not a personality flaw or a matter of self-control.
While the underlying vulnerability is biological, life factors influence how it shows up. Significant stress, trauma, sleep disruption, and substance use can all trigger mood episodes or make them more severe. Understanding these triggers is a key part of managing bipolar disorder well over the long term.
Signs and Symptoms of Bipolar Disorder
Bipolar disorder involves shifts between emotional highs and lows that go beyond ordinary mood changes. Signs include:
- Manic or hypomanic periods of high energy, racing thoughts, or impulsivity
- Depressive periods of deep low mood, fatigue, and hopelessness
- Reduced need for sleep during highs
- Risk-taking or impulsive decisions during elevated moods
- Difficulty functioning during mood episodes
- Mood shifts that disrupt relationships, work, or daily life
If these patterns feel familiar, a proper assessment can bring clarity, and effective treatment can bring stability.
How Addiction Influences Bipolar Disorder
Bipolar disorder and substance use very frequently occur together, and each destabilizes the other.
Substance use is especially common with bipolar disorder. Some people use substances to amplify or extend the highs, others to numb the crushing lows. But alcohol and drugs destabilize mood, trigger episodes, interfere with medications, and make the condition far harder to manage. The result is a cycle where substance use and mood instability intensify one another.
This makes integrated, dual-diagnosis treatment essential. At New Wave, we treat bipolar disorder and substance use together rather than separately, coordinating medication, therapy, and structure so both can stabilize at once. When substance use is part of the picture, our addiction treatment is fully integrated with your bipolar care.
Therapies That Work Best for Bipolar Disorder
Stability comes from combining medication, therapy, skills, and structure.
The approaches we find most effective for bipolar disorder include:
Medication management to stabilize mood, carefully overseen
CBT to recognize early warning signs of episodes
DBT for managing intense emotions and impulsivity
Individual therapy to build steady routines and insight
Mindfulness and yoga to regulate stress and sleep
Family therapy to build understanding and support
With coordinated care and the same therapist throughout, stability becomes sustainable.
Coping Skills for Bipolar Disorder
Daily habits and self-awareness are powerful protectors of mood stability.
Skills that help manage bipolar disorder include:
- Keeping consistent sleep and daily routines
- Tracking mood to catch early warning signs of an episode
- Identifying and managing personal triggers
- Staying consistent with medication and care
- Mindfulness and stress-reduction practices
- Avoiding substances that destabilize mood
These habits, practiced with support, help keep mood steadier and episodes less frequent.
How We Treat Bipolar Disorder
Stability built through therapy, skills, structure, and coordinated care.
Treating bipolar disorder well usually combines medication management with therapy and healthy structure. At New Wave, our medical team coordinates medication while therapies like CBT and DBT help you recognize early warning signs, manage intense emotions, and build the steady routines that support stability.
Because substance use can destabilize bipolar disorder, we treat both together rather than separately. Daily holistic care and consistent support help regulate mood and stress, and working with the same therapist over time means someone always has the full picture of how you are doing.
Your Path Through Treatment
We meet you at the right level of care and adjust as you grow stronger, with the same therapist throughout and holistic healing every day.
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Step 1: Detox
We connect you with a trusted detox partner, then welcome you back.
Co-Occurring Conditions We Treat
We treat mental health conditions alongside substance use. Explore the co-occurring conditions we treat:
Bipolar Disorder
Dual-diagnosis support.
You are here
Care that feels different
We were founded by people in long-term recovery, so the way we treat you comes from having been where you are. That shows up in everything we do.
Founded by people in recovery
When you call New Wave, you talk to someone who has walked this path, not a call center. This is personal for us.
The same therapist throughout
You keep your private therapist as you move between levels of care, so your progress is never interrupted and you never start over.
Holistic care, every day
Reiki, yoga, sound healing, and mindfulness are woven into daily treatment alongside evidence-based therapy, not offered once in a while.
Meet the People Behind Your Recovery
Our licensed clinicians and team, many in long-term recovery themselves, are who you will work with at New Wave.
Angela Faccone
Co-Founder & Program Director
Charles Draleau
Executive Director
Melanie Draleau
Co-Founder & Reiki Practitioner
Ryan SmithBratton
Co-Founder & Director of Community Outreach
Danielle Visone
Mental Health Counselor & Clinical Director
Recovery That People Remember
Bipolar Disorder Treatment FAQs
Want to talk to a real person? Call us, someone in recovery will answer.
Do you treat bipolar disorder in Massachusetts?
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Is medication necessary for bipolar disorder?
What therapies help with bipolar disorder?
Can you treat bipolar disorder and addiction together?
Is bipolar treatment covered by insurance?
Keep Learning
Helpful, judgment-free articles on recovery, treatment, and supporting the people you love.
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We’ll verify your benefits and have an honest conversation about whether our program is the best match for your stage of recovery. And if we’re not the right fit for your journey, we won’t leave you guessing. We’ll help you find the place that is. Because we’ve been where you are, our only goal is getting you to the care that works.
Take the First Step Today
Bipolar disorder can be managed, and life can feel steady again. Call and talk to someone who understands.
If you or someone you love is in crisis, call or text 988, or call 911.
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In a crisis? If you or someone you love is in immediate danger, call or text 988 (Suicide & Crisis Lifeline) or call 911.