Bipolar disorder is a mental disorder associated with intense changes in mood, behavior, and thinking, often abruptly and lasting from weeks to months. These swings change between a manic mood and a depressive. Shifts can be so intense they can interfere with day to day life, relationships, and productivity. Periods of swings that last as short as hours or even days are called “rapid cycling.” How severe the episodes are vary on a case to case basis. There are four categories of bipolarism distinguished by cause, symptoms, and duration.
Depressive swings of bipolar are characterized by listlessness, loss of interest in daily activities, irritability, general hopelessness, lack of appetite, loss of motivation, and even suicidal thoughts. They share a lot with general depression disorder, thus the name ‘depressive’ swing.
Manic moods are characterized by high energy, a sense of giddiness, increase in libido, insomnia, reckless behavior, and even a disconnect from reality. Some have even attributed an increase in creativity and productivity to their manic moods. Because of this, those with a bipolar disorder are often thought of to be more prone to abuse their medications in hopes of using their manics. Generally, though, depressive swings are more common than manics and carry with them the same dangers of an anxiety or depression disorder.
However, how people react to their depressive and manic moods vary widely. They can range from barely noticeable to debilitating. Also, life isn’t always constant swinging. There can be, and often are, periods of stability in between. Some folk can get swings so severe they straight on hallucinate. Some, even many, can experience a “mixed” state where they experience both a manic and depression at the same time, leaving them hopeless and sad, but wired and restless at the same time. Talk about a headache, which is yet another common symptom.
The cause of bipolar disorders are little understood. What is known suggests it’s heredity and the first onset appears in the teenage years or early adulthood. Since there’s such a variety of symptoms it is often misdiagnosed, and the longer it is overlooked the worse it can get. Other conditions that can be related to bipolarism or even occur alongside it include post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety disorders, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and drug-abuse as those suffering under the disorder attempt to self-medicate. These disorders can also cover up bipolarism, resulting in a misdiagnosis. So, although this bipolar online forum community can be loads of help and support in learning to cope with bipolar disorder, it is by far not a replacement for a proper psychologist, maybe even two. Always a good idea to get a second opinion when faced with the multifaceted beast which is mental health.
While medicine is the basis of the treatment, it is by far not meant to be left alone, especially considering that it takes some time to find the right type and dosage, sometimes even combinations of different kinds of medication. Complete treatment involves a healthy lifestyle, monitoring of swings, therapy, keeping stress to a minimum (because we’re totally gluttons for stress in our lives) and a strong social support system, of which can be supplemented by the bipolar disorder discussion forum found here.
Disclaimer: this article, although well researched, is not written by a medical professional and should, by no means, be used to replace advice or diagnosis by a qualified medical practitioner.
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