Bipolar - What is it?

Question

Can someone explain what it means to be bipolar?

Answer 1

Bipolar disorder, also known as manic-depressive illness, is a brain disorder that causes unusual shifts in a person's mood, energy, and ability to function. Different from the normal ups and downs that everyone goes through, the symptoms of bipolar disorder are severe. They can result in damaged relationships, poor job or school performance, and even suicide. But there is good news: bipolar disorder can be treated, and people with this illness can lead full and productive lives.

About 5.7 million American adults or about 2.6 percent of the population age 18 and older in any given year,have bipolar disorder. Bipolar disorder typically develops in late adolescence or early adulthood. However, some people have their first symptoms during childhood, and some develop them late in life. It is often not recognized as an illness, and people may suffer for years before it is properly diagnosed and treated. Like diabetes or heart disease, bipolar disorder is a long-term illness that must be carefully managed throughout a person's life.

"Manic-depression distorts moods and thoughts, incites dreadful behaviors, destroys the basis of rational thought, and too often erodes the desire and will to live. It is an illness that is biological in its origins, yet one that feels psychological in the experience of it; an illness that is unique in conferring advantage and pleasure, yet one that brings in its wake almost unendurable suffering and, not infrequently, suicide."

Most noted "mood states":

Depression
Hypomania
Mania

Answer 2

My mom is schizophrenic and bipolar.

For people with bipolar disorder, life can be an emotional roller coaster. It can have intense highs and crippling lows. But treatments are available to help control these extreme mood swings. Although there is no cure, with proper treatment, people diagnosed with bipolar disorder can live normal lives.

Emotional highs and lows are part of life for everyone. But for someone with bipolar disorder, these ups and downs can be so extreme they can interfere with daily life. Sometimes they can even be dangerous.

One day a person with bipolar disorder may feel so depressed that they can't get out of bed. Work may seem impossible.

On another day that person may feel great, full of endless energy and creativity. But other people might think that their actions are reckless and out of control.

Bipolar disorder is a lifelong medical condition that can be confusing and unpredictable, but it's nothing to be embarrassed about. Learning more about bipolar disorder can be helpful in managing this medical illness.

Answer 3

What is bipolar disorder?

Bipolar disorder (also called manic-depressive disorder) is an illness that causes extreme mood changes that alternate between manic episodes of abnormally high energy and the extreme lows of depression.

Bipolar disorder may cause behavior so severe that you may not be able to function at work, in family or social situations, or in relationships with others. Some people with bipolar disorder become suicidal.

What causes bipolar disorder?

The cause of bipolar disorder is not completely understood, but the disorder runs in families and may also be affected by your living environment or family situation. An imbalance of chemicals in the brain is another possible cause.

What are the symptoms?

During a manic episode, you may be abnormally happy, energetic, or irritable for a week or more. You may spend a lot of money, get involved in dangerous activities, and sleep very little. After a manic episode, you may return to normal, but your mood may swing in the opposite direction to feelings of sadness, depression, and hopelessness. When you are depressed, you may have trouble concentrating, remembering, and making decisions; have changes in your eating and sleeping habits; and lose interest in things you once enjoyed.

The mood changes of bipolar disorder can be mild or extreme. They may develop gradually over several days or weeks, or come on suddenly within minutes or hours. The manic or depressive episodes may only last a few hours or for several months.

How is bipolar disorder diagnosed?

Because it has many phases and symptoms, bipolar disorder is complex and hard to diagnose. There are no lab tests for bipolar disorder; instead your doctor or therapist will ask detailed questions about what kind of symptoms you have and how long they last. In order to be diagnosed as bipolar, you must have had a manic episode lasting at least a week (less if you had to be hospitalized). During this time, you must have had three or more specific symptoms of mania, such as needing less sleep, being more talkative, behaving wildly or irresponsibly in activities that could have serious outcomes, or feeling as if your thoughts are racing.

Your urine and blood may be tested to rule out other problems that could be causing your symptoms.

How is it treated?

Bipolar disorder is mainly treated with medications to manage manic episodes and periods of depression. Your doctor may try several medications before finding the right combination to manage your symptoms long-term. Medications include mood stabilizers and antipsychotics. Antidepressants are used carefully for episodes of depression, because they cause some people to cycle into a manic phase.

Counseling for you and your and family is also an important treatment for bipolar disorder.

People with extreme cases of mania may be hospitalized to protect them from risky behaviors, such as driving recklessly or having delusions. During a severe bout of depression, hospitalization may be necessary to prevent the person from committing suicide

Answer 4

Maybe I can help you out, since I have the disorder. Moodswings are normal for everyone, but with this disorder the are severe and can affect your everyday life. i went through rapid cycles of depression and mania constantly. Sometimes nothing even triggered these changes. Unlike regular mood swings these may be long term and cycling can last for years. Sometimes you may be so down and depressed and not even know what your upset about. Other times you feel like you can do anything, like your inhuman. It really sucks. This problem messed up my life for about 2 years before I finally found a doctor who could help me. he prescribed some medicine to alter the chemical imbalance causes my mood swings. After only a few weeks I felt like a new person!

Answer 5

bipolar disorder is a more complicated illness than that described by the other answers. A person can be both manic and depressed at the same time - that is, be hyper and grandiose and suicidal at the same time, or any other combination of mania and depression ("mixed moods" "dysphoric mania" or "agitated depression" are some terms used to describe these situations). Some people get better between episodes, some don't. Some only get hypomania (a little bit manic) and their illness is mostly depression. Some people are classified bipolar if they never get mania except while on antidepressants (but their illness will respond better to bipolar meds than depression meds). So bipolar is really a complicated mood disorder. Not that many people get the classic happy hyper manias alternating with depressions & symptom free times.

For me, my personal experience is that I have depression much more than mania, and without antidepressants, I only get a little bit manic (hypomania) a period of heightened creativity and energy. I have the worst depressions imaginable, most of the time, where I am on the verge of suicide because the agony is unbearable. So I keep busy to distract myself and get through another day, only to wake up to another unbearable day. It feels worse than if someone you cared deeply about died, or someone close to you betrayed you in a horrible way. You can cry and cry, and you don't feel better. You can't think. You can't even make yourself a can of condensed chicken noodle soup because you can't think and can't get up. You may think everyone hates you and no one will care if you are gone. I use my cognitive therapy and try to remind myself that I'm not thinking right, but that only goes so far. So for me, that is what it means to be bipolar. People can go on about behaviors, how "bipolar people" act, but you can't generalize that anymore than you can generalize the disorder itself. Most of the time, my behavior is under control, but it really costs me to act normally when everything I look at is ashes. Bipolar means to have moods that are intense and uncontrollable and probably have absolutely nothing to do with what's going on in your life. (That doesn't mean you can't control your behavior, mostly, except for when moods are at their most extreme) .Your brain just malfunctions and you suffer on and on and on for it. (My bipolar is probably somewhat worse than average - not everyone's symptoms are so intense). All those clinical terms about mania and depression really don't tell a person what the experience of the illness is, so that's why I wrote about that.

And by the way, when I do fail to control my behavior, I apologize for it when I have my behavior under control again. I do hurt my husband's feelings some of the time, but I never suck up or pretend nothing happened (although I usually don't remember very much - bipolar does cause cognitive impairment, including serious memory problems) I think someone with bipolar should get counseling and learn to apologize. A bipolar person needs to have better interpersonal skills that a person who does not have it - better anger management, better stress reduction, be better at apologizing, etc.

Answer 6

The same person goes through high and low at different times. Low is depression and high is manic condition. When you are depressed, you think that you are the most worthless person in the world. In the manic situation, you will think that you can and you will conquer the world. These conditions cycle, once a week, once a month, once a year etc. depending on the person.

If it is you, see a psychiatrist. There are medicines available for this condition. There is no need to suffer.

Answer 7

The only way to tell you what it means to be bipolar is to describe it from a point of view of someone who has the illness.

I "admitted" myself into the pyschiatric hospital because I was on the verge of suicide which happened after I crashed from my high or mania. When I was manic I felt invincible that no one could touch me. My self esteem was so high that I thought I was the most important person at my job even though I'm the lowest person on the totem pole. I believed that I could invent a new source of energy and save the world. My mind was crippled by the constant bombardment of racing thoughts which kept me a up all night which resulted in very little sleep for many days, but I still had lots of energy. I even came to believed that I was homosexual which I disclosed to many of my friends and I even went as far as placing an ad in the personals, but now I think that wasn't such as good idea as I'm not even gay. The worst thing for me was that I spent ungodly amounts of money on stuff I didn't even need. This is my experience of my mania episode which can be different from person to person. Now after I "came down" I became really depressed.

When I wanted to die I felt that there was not reason in the world to live so I went to the hospital and basically slept and slept for many days. I felt empty inside and sheer hopelessness as my life just took a turn upside down. I didn't find pleasure in the stuff that I liked to do. The worst thing for me in the depression is that I also have psychotic features. I seen black spots, bursts of late, weird wavy patterns of light, and hearing my name being called.

When you cram all of these events (mania and depression) in a time span of three weeks it becomes very hard on one's self to cope with the enourmous mood swings. It also has an effect on work, relationships, and life itself.

The common course of treatment is a combination of moods stabalizers, anti-depressants, and anti-psychotics which their effectiveness varies from one individual to the next.

The severity of bipolar is different from person to person, but with the right help it's possible to live a normal life.

Answer 8

It means you have mood swings... You go from being at a base line ("normal") to extremes of mania (very very HIGH) to depression (very very low).
Some people differ in how high their mania goes and how low their depression gets.
but the one thing in common is the SWINGS.
One needs medications to help keep these swings manageable to live a productive life. But some of us don't like to take our meds, because we like the highs..we get very creative and productive during these times...well, until they get so high that we can't control anything. That is when hospitals come into play.
The depressive side sucks. enough said about that.
Hope that gives you an idea.

Answer 9

It's like a person who has moodswings.( A girl at my school acts like this) One moment they're normal the next they become really depressed. Or they will be really happy than the next moment they get mad. They have mood swings all the time that are almost inpredictable. You have no idea when it's going 2 happen. You almost have 2 really really watch what you say around them

Answer 10

another name for it is manic depressant. my dad has this disorder and so does one of my friends. one moment, they can be completely happy, but the next they will be threatening suicide and throwing things, and then 5 mins later they will try to suck up to you like nothing happened. moodswings moodswings moodswings. its like pms. it sucks. you can take meds for it and that can help to keep the moods under control, but yeah, its mostly that you are unable to control your emotions.