When a consultation may help
A consultation may help when mood changes recur, disrupt sleep or judgment, interfere with relationships or daily functioning, or when a diagnosis or medication response needs careful review.
Booking informationConditions · Other mood disorders
Mood has patterns.
A careful assessment looks beyond a difficult day. Changes in mood make more sense when we follow their timing, duration, intensity and relationship to sleep, energy, health and life events.
Not for emergencies.
Do not use either website for emergencies. If you or someone else is in immediate danger, call 112 now or go to the nearest emergency department.
In Belgium, call Zelfmoordlijn 1813 in Dutch or the Centre de Prévention du Suicide on 0800 32 123 in French. Both are free, anonymous and available 24/7.
You can call simply because things feel bad and you want someone to talk to.
Is this familiar?
Patterns worth looking at closely.
Your mood shifts come with clear changes in sleep, energy or activity.
At times, thoughts and speech speed up and you need far less sleep than usual.
Confidence, irritability or impulsivity becomes uncharacteristically intense.
Periods of depression alternate with activated states — or both seem present at once.
Mood changes appeared after medication, substance use, illness or a major life transition.
Not every mood shift is bipolar disorder. The sequence over time — and the change from your usual self — matters more than any one symptom.
How I approach assessment and treatment
The timeline comes first.
First
Map the episodes
I build a timeline of mood, sleep, energy, behavior and functioning. We also consider family history, medication effects, substances, medical contributors, stress and trauma.
Then
Create stability and safety
Regular sleep and daily rhythms, risk planning and a clear understanding of early warning signs create the ground for treatment. The people around you may be involved with your consent.
From there
Build a plan that can be reviewed
Treatment may combine psychoeducation, psychotherapy-informed care, lifestyle stabilization, careful monitoring, collaboration — and medication when clinically appropriate.
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