What are the steps you can take to help someone?

[De1111]

I would like to know if there is a way to get help with bipolar disorder without insurance. I understand the 1st step is to find out if you have bipolar disorder. The 2nd thing is to get on medication. Medication often has severe side effects, is there another way?

How do I talk to someone I love about getting help?

[PrimitiveJekka]

I'm bipolar, rapid cycling, with a bunch of other "tendancies" afterwards. I am unmedicated.  Please don't take this as something that will work for everyone.  It doesn't even work for me all the time, but it helps a lot with the day to day.

1.  Exercise.  By burning off excess energy, I have less restless energy.  Think of my brain like a vacuum cannister.  Restless energy spins around and around picking up clutter from every day.  Think of things that set me off as peices of duct tape in there.  The more restless energy that spins things around the more things have an opportunity to stick to the tape.  If I go 2 weeks without a good energy burn (an hour of swimming a day for example) my roommate is going to get her head bitten off for not putting her coat in the closet, or for closing the living room window incorrectly.

2.  Low stress living.  I'm on disability.  Being in a work environment shuts me down.  I'm talking on the floor, making a puddle with my facial fluids unable to form cohesive thoughts.

3.  Organization.  If I know what I'm supposed to do when, according to a written list, I can get through my day.

4.  My dog.  He is my helper.  When I space out when cooking. He presses his nose into the back of my knee.  When I'm crying he curls up next to me.  When I'm a bit frustrated he does this weird scootching thing that always makes me laugh.  When I'm happy, he's happy with me.

I have a good support system of people who get me.  I have friends who check on me every couple of days if they haven't heard from me when they know I'm around.  I have family who bails me out when I do have a zero control of my money episode, and I have a lot of on line friends in a bunch of different time zones that will call and get me through the night if I need them.

I am blessed to have all this.  Not everyone does.  I'm not saying tihs works 100% of the time, but it gets me through the day to day.

[tootapanga1]

go for some natural mood stabelizers, theyre cheaper, you dont need a prescription and it wont hurt if its a wrong diagnosis.
try
St Johns Wort
and Vitamin B

[ILADVOCATE]

There should be ways to help them find out about their insurance options such as independent living centers which are in every county of every state:
http://www.ilru.org/html/publications/directory/index.html
There might be free clinics and if not and also its a good step anyway they should find out if they are eligible for Medicaid. If they are but not receiving it yet and they need it now they could go to a walk in clinic at a hospital and be eligible for emergency Medicaid which would then transition to standard Medicaid. If they are working and their state has it they could be eligible for the Medicaid Buy in for Working People with Disabilities. Every medication has its own set of side effects but not all of the side effects are severe. Every person responds differently to each medication its best to find out about available options. This is a list:
http://www.psycheducation.org/depression/meds/moodstabilizers.htm
NAMI friend and family support groups can be helpful as well.