Q My daughter has bipolar disorder and takes medication for it, but still suffers badly with symptoms. Can you recommend any holistic therapies?
S.K., via email
A Formerly known as manic depression, bipolar disorder affects more than 1 percent of the population and is the sixth leading cause of disability worldwide. A complex and chronic mood disorder, it causes extreme mood swings that include feeling low and lethargic (depression) and high and overactive (mania). Mood stabilizing drugs like lithium, as well as antipsychotics, anticonvulsants and antidepressants, are the usual treatments for bipolar disorder, but they come with a long list of side-effects and often fail to bring patients to long-term remission. The best plan would be to or a nutritional deficiency, as well as look into environmental factors. But here’s a roundup of the most promising holistic options for bipolar disorder. Most have been trialed alongside standard medication, but your daughter should check with her doctor about possible interactions and which treatments would be right for her. She definitely shouldn’t stop taking any medication suddenly.