Bipolar disorder also known as manic depression is the serious shifting of mood, thinking, behavior and energy of a person. This could be from extreme mania to the lowest depression. This could be a very good mood or very bad mood and the cycle of the disorder can last for days, weeks or even months. This is not an ordinary change of moods because it can go out of hand and can interfere with the ability of the person to function properly.
It is true that we all have our “ups” and “downs”, but if a person is suffering from manic depression, the episodes could be at the highest level or in its lowest, both are on the extreme sides. The disorder can damage a relationship, hurt the performance in the job or school and disrupt one’s peaceful life. The disorder are treatable, but then, people do not recognize the symptoms or any warning signs, the reason why the case is often worse before it gets the treatment it needs. Learning the symptoms of the disorder and recognizing it right away is very important so that treatment can be administered readily before everything gets out of control.
The bipolar disorder symptoms differ depending on the sufferer. They can vary in severity, frequency and pattern. People of this kind are more prone to mania or depression whereas others can have alternate moods. Some may experience the disruption once in their lifetime but others have more frequent disruptions in their moods. The disorder has four types and each type has each own unique symptoms. The mood episodes in this disorder are mania, hypomania, depression and mixed depression.
When a person is on the manic stage, he is on his heightened level in whatever he does. He may keep on talking nonstop, hyperactive and will sleep only for a few minutes. He may feel good for himself but at the same time he thinks that he is Superman. That he is very powerful and feels really great for himself however, when the mood changes he may do something foolish like spending all his savings, invest in foolish things or engage in improper sexual activity. Some may get angry easily for no reason at all and may start to become delusion or hear voices. For hypomania, is just like mania but on lesser form. Others will just see it as an unusual good mood. This could grow into full blown mania or major depressive episode.
People with bipolar depression are always irritable, have guilt feeling, unexplained mood swings and always restless. They sleep a lot, move and speak slowly and gain weight. They are the people that are more likely to develop psychotic depression. They are the ones that lose contact with reality.
For those who have mixed episode of disorder, the symptoms feature the three types of disorder. The familiar signs are anxiety, racing thoughts, irritability, insomnia, agitation and easily distracted. This can be high energy or low mood. People with this disorder should always have company for they are the people with high risk of suicide.
Manic depression can be treated and overcome however; a psychologist or a psychiatrist should first give bipolar disorder diagnosis to the patient. Unfortunately, not all people who have disorders are given proper diagnosis or have not been diagnosed which makes the matter worse. They can end up in psychiatric hospitals, rehabilitation centers, treatment centers, for teens they could end up in the juvenile justice system and some would even commit suicide.
The behaviors of children and teens with the disorder have different bipolar manifestation compared to adults who have the same condition. Only a mental health professional can help such conditions before they can conclude the exact condition of the child or teen. A thorough study of the patient’s medical and family history will be of great help in ruling our the behavior of the person. A medical examination will be helpful as well in ruling out other kinds of health related conditions.
Giving diagnosis to this disorder can be difficult for there are no blood tests or brain scan that will help determine if the person has a disorder. Often times, especially in teens, they can be mistakenly diagnosed as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), posttraumatic stress disorder and schizophrenia.
Since the function of the brain is affected here, it affects the way a person acts, think and feel which make it for other people to understand the person that has manic depression. Dealing with them can be difficult for they may just snap out of it, get angry without any reason or feel so depressed that they no longer wanted to live. This is not to say that the person is weak or has a character flaw. They have serious medical disorder that requires treatment and lots of understanding from family and friends.