Can bipolar disorder be managed by video?

Yes. The evaluation, medication management and individual counseling can happen by secure video from anywhere in South Carolina, with in-person visits in West Ashley when you prefer.

How is bipolar disorder different from depression?

Depression brings periods of low mood, while bipolar disorder includes those lows along with up periods of mania or hypomania, which is why we ask about your whole mood history.

Can I stop my medication once I feel better?

Please talk with your provider first; the condition tends to stay even when you feel well, and your provider can adjust the plan with you.

What should I bring to a first bipolar disorder visit?

A mood journal or life chart if you keep one, what people close to you have noticed, any mental health conditions in your family and a list of your current medicines.

What if someone is unsafe because of mania or depression?

Call or text 988 for thoughts of suicide, and call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room if there is immediate danger.

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Online Bipolar Disorder Care Across South Carolina

Long-term mood care for adults by secure video from anywhere in the state, with in-person visits in West Ashley.

Long-Term Mood Care by Video

Bipolar disorder care usually continues for years, which is easier when follow-up visits do not require a drive. Hope Behavioral Medicine sees adults anywhere in South Carolina by secure video, and in person at our West Ashley office when you prefer.

Bipolar disorder brings shifts in mood, energy and activity well beyond ordinary ups and downs: high periods of mania or milder hypomania, and low periods of depression.

Getting the Diagnosis Right

Many people first seek help during a low stretch, and hypomania can pass for a productive week, so your first visit looks back across your life at past highs and lows, how long each lasted and what runs in your family. The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) recommends a mood journal or life chart, and people close to you may have noticed changes you did not.

This matters because NIMH cautions that a plan for depression alone can set off mania or rapid cycling in bipolar disorder.

What Treatment Looks Like

Medication when indicated, decided jointly with you, helps prevent mood episodes or make them less severe, and your provider adjusts the plan at follow-up visits; please do not stop a medication on your own. We offer individual counseling, including cognitive behavioral therapy, and a referral when another approach such as family therapy makes more sense.

How Common Bipolar Disorder Is

NIMH estimates that 2.8 percent of U.S. adults had bipolar disorder in the past year and that 4.4 percent will have it at some point in their lives. It usually begins in the late teens or early adult years.

If You Are in Crisis

If you or someone you know is thinking about suicide, call or text 988 now. If mania or depression has made someone unsafe, call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room; Hope Behavioral Medicine is not an emergency service.

Request an appointment, call (843) 737-0312, or read about in-person care at our West Ashley office.

Bipolar Disorder Care in Your South Carolina Community

Each community page below shows local figures from CDC PLACES and County Health Rankings, plus local notes, for bipolar disorder care by video in that area.

Charleston metro

Lowcountry

Georgetown County coast

Bipolar Disorder Care in Georgetown

Grand Strand

Bipolar Disorder Care in Myrtle Beach

Midlands

Aiken and Savannah River area

Pee Dee

Upstate

Not sure where to start? Browse every South Carolina community we serve or the telehealth FAQ.