Information in English

 

What is bipolar disorder?

Bipolar disorder is a chronic or episodic (which means occurring occasionally and at irregular intervals) mental disorder. It can cause unusual, often extreme and fluctuating changes in mood, energy, activity, and concentration or focus. Bipolar disorder sometimes is called manic-depressive disorder or manic depression, which are older terms.

 

Everyone goes through normal ups and downs, but bipolar disorder is different. The range of mood changes can be extreme. In manic episodes, someone might feel very happy, irritable, or “up,” and there is a marked increase in activity level. In depressive episodes, someone might feel sad, indifferent, or hopeless, in combination with a very low activity level. Some people have hypomanic episodes, which are like manic episodes, but less severe and troublesome.

 

Most of the time, bipolar disorder develops or starts during late adolescence (teen years) or early adulthood. Occasionally, bipolar symptoms can appear in children. Although the symptoms come and go, bipolar disorder usually requires lifetime treatment and does not go away on its own. Bipolar disorder can be an important factor in suicide, job loss, and family discord, but proper treatment leads to better outcomes.

Bipolar Disorder (NIMH Publication, Oct 2018)
qf18-3679-bipolardisorder-508_152248.pdf
Adobe Acrobat Dokument 1.7 MB

Assistance in a crisis situation

In the event of an acute crisis:

Last update: August 13th, 2019

Self-help & support group

Currently there is no established English-speaking bipolar support group (Selbsthilfegruppe/SHG) in Berlin or Brandenburg.

 

But there are already some people willing to form a new bipolar support group in Berlin. Please contact Daniel, if you are interested:

 

Looking for a doctor

in Berlin

Online search engine for Statutory Health Insurance Doctors (KV Berlin):

in Brandenburg

Online search engine for Statutory Health Insurance Doctors (KV Brandenburg):

Note: Both search engines will show all psychiatrists, no matter if they are speaking English or not. Good luck!

Looking for a therapist

bipolaris has asked psychotherapists in Berlin and Brandenburg if and how often they treat people with bipolar disorder or other serious conditions. The results are available here:

  • bipolaris Psychotherapeuten-Datenbank
    • "Standort" = ZIP-Code (PLZ) or location (Ort)
    • "Suchradius" = radius in kilometers
    • set "Fremdsprache" to "englisch"
    • set "Diagnose" to "Bipolare Störungen"

More detailed information can be found inside the following PDF.

With many thanks to Ingrid Johnson (www.ingridejohnson.com) for translation!

Psychotherapy and Psychotherapist search
2019 08 13 therapist search.pdf
Adobe Acrobat Dokument 303.9 KB

Further information & links

BIP Flyer
Contact us in case of problems with the psychiatric aid system!
BIP-EinlegerENG-web.pdf
Adobe Acrobat Dokument 98.1 KB

  • Deutsche Gesellschaft für Bipolare Störungen e.V. (DGBS)
    expert knowledge (in German)
    https://www.dgbs.de/

Translation

Vocabulary

English German
alternative non-medical practitioners for psychotherapy Heilpraktiker (für Psychotherapie)
ambulance Krankenwagen, Rettungswagen
anxiety, anxiety disorder Angst, Angststörung
attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) Aufmerksamkeitsdefizit-Hyperaktivitätsstörung (ADHS)
behavioral therapy Verhaltenstherapie
bipolar disorder(s) Bipolare Störung(en)
older: Bipolare Erkrankung(en)
counsellor Berater (male), Beraterin (female)
(psychosocial) counselling (psychosoziale) Beratung
day-care hospital, day hospital, outpatients clinic Tagesklinik
Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy Klinik für Psychiatrie und Psychotherapie
depression, depressive Depression, depressiv
depth psychology-based therapy tiefenpsychologisch fundierte Therapie, Tiefenpsychologie
diagnosis Diagnose
doctor, physician Arzt, Arzt (male), Ärztin (female)
eating disorder Essstörung
field of expertise Fachgebiet
health insurance Krankenversicherung
health insurance (company) Krankenkasse, Ersatzkasse
health, healthy Gesundheit, gesund
hypomania, hypomanic Hypomanie, hypomanisch
inpatient treatment stationäre Behandlung
mania, manic Manie, manisch

manic depression,

manic-depressive illness

manisch-depressive Erkrankung

(= bipolar disorder)

manic-depressive manisch-depressiv
medical assistant, senior house officer Assistenzarzt (male), Assistenzärztin (female)
medical psychotherapist Ärztlicher Psychotherapeut (male), Ärztliche Psychotherapeutin (female), abbr. ÄPT
medication Medikation
medicine, (pharmaceutical) drug Arzneimittel, Medikament, Medizin
old: Arznei
mental health seelische Gesundheit, psychische Gesundheit
mental health outpatient clinic Psychiatrische Institutsambulanz, abbr. PIA
mental illness, mental disorder psychische Erkrankung, psychische Störung
not used anymore: Geisteskrankheit
neurologist Nervenarzt, Neurologe
outpatient treatment ambulante Behandlung
patient(s) Patient(en)
personality disorder Persönlichkeitsstörung
pharmacological therapy medikamentöse Behandlung
pharmacy Apotheke
prescription Rezept, Verordnung
psychiatrist Psychiater
psychoanalysis Psychoanalyse
psychological psychotherapist psychologischer Psychotherapeut, abbr. PPT
psychologist Psychologe (male), Psychologin (female)
psychologists Psychologen (plural male), Psychologinnen (plural female)
psychosis Psychose
psychotherapist Psychotherapeut (male), Psychotherapeutin (female)
recovery Recovery, Genesung
senior physician, assistant medical director, resident house physician Oberarzt (male), Oberärztin (female)
social anxiety Sozialphobie, soziale Phobie
(medical) specialist in neurology, psychiatry, psychotherapy Facharzt für Neurologie, Psychiatrie, Psychotherapie
State Office for Health and Social Affairs Landesamt für Gesundheit und Soziales, abbr. LaGeSo
study, survey (scientific) Studie, Untersuchung (wissenschaftlich)
suicide

Suizid, Selbsttötung (modern),

older: Selbstmord

support group, self-help group, self-aid group Selbsthilfegruppe, abbr. SHG
therapeutic field(s) Therapiegebiet(e)
therapy Therapie
tranquilizer Beruhigungsmittel
treatment Behandlung

Questions and suggestions: bipolaris@bipolaris.de

 

  • © English language flag: public domain (source)
  • © NIMH Publication PDF: public domain (source)