What's Bipolar II?

Question

Symptoms? Causes? Anyone have Bipolar II and want to share experiences with the disorder?

Answer 1

I'm bipolar type I, I believe, but I can certainly share.

Symptoms:
Depressive stages:
sadness, anxiety, guilt, anger, isolation and/or hopelessness, disturbances in sleep and appetite, fatigue and loss of interest in usually enjoyed activities, problems concentrating, loneliness, self-loathing, apathy or indifference, depersonalization, loss of interest in sexual activity, shyness or social anxiety, irritability, chronic pain (with or without a known cause), lack of motivation, and morbid/suicidal ideation.
Mania:
People having a manic episode of mood can be elated, euphoric, irritated and/or suspicious. There will be an increase in physical and mental rate and quality. Increased energy and over-activity is common; speech can become racing. The need for sleep is reduced. Attention span is low and easily distracted. Unrealistic, grandiose or over optimistic ideas may be voiced or attempted. Social skills are impaired, and impractical ideas may lead to financial and relationship indiscretions.

Hypomania is generally a less destructive state than mania, and people in the hypomanic phase generally experience less of the symptoms of mania than those in a full-blown manic episode. The duration is usually also shorter than in mania. This is often a very 'artistic' state of the disorder, where there is a flight of ideas, extremely clever thinking, and an increase in energy.

Mixed State:
... To make this shorter... Imagine any of the above symptoms, in any number... combined.

Cognition failure (forgetting things, having trouble keeping train of thought, etc) and a lot of bipolar people are creative.

Causes:
Mostly unknown. It's believed to be linked to DNA. Which makes sense. I'm Bipolar. My halfbrother is bipolar. His daughter is bipolar. I'm pretty sure my mother (which I share with my halfbrother) is bipolar, but she refuses to believe anything is wrong with HER.

Experiences:
I could talk for hours.
I was diagnosed at first when I was 12. They usually don't when you're that young, because puberty is similar to bipolar, the ups and downs.

Depression is pretty self-explanatory. Mania is harder to explain. Once while manic I couldn't sleep (I've got insomnia even when depressed, slow-sleep frequent waking) and I got up at 3am because right then I HAD TO PAINT. I hadn't painted since... well, probably since highschool. But I had to. I tore my room apart looking for watercolors I knew I had somewhere, found them... alas, no brush. Finally got a makeup brush and used SCRAPBOOK paper and flippin painted. Couldn't resist the urge.

I'll tell you something that I found out isn't highly documented. Found this out a couple months ago. Mania can be "triggered" by psuedoephedrine. I hate being overly manic. A little mania's okay. I get stuff done. Sure, I might get 12 projects half done because I can't concentrate, but I get some stuff a little done, as opposed to laying in bed staring at the ceiling. I had a cold, and I was taking decongestants. Maximum dosage, because I felt AWFUL. And my friends had been mentioning how talkative I was (I'm not, generally) and how I was bouncy.

I went into the worst mania I've ever been in.

Imagine taking 3x the lethal dosage of speed.

Then take out half your brain.

That was about it.

I had to call my doctor to ask for a cough suppresant and decongestant with no -phedrine product in it when I FINALLY figured out what caused it. And the fact that very few people know that it causes it (I found the info about it causing manic attacks on a site instructing its use for RECREATIONAL PURPOSES!) ticks me off.

Answer 2

Supposedly I have Bipolar II, but I don't agree with the diagnosis. The short version is that elevated moods are a little too high, and lowered moods are a little too low--but not all the time. Sometimes there's a nice, happy normal. The lowered moods are depressive episodes and have to last a few weeks. The higher moods are hypomanic (as opposed to full out manic, which would be straight up Bipolar) and can show themselves as irritability, slightly excessive happiness, short-temperedness, heightened creativity, and/or an inability to sleep well at all. This should last at least about 5 days. Between the very low lows and the slightly high highs, there will often be a plateau that is sort of "normal", though the hypomania is often viewed by the person and people close to that person as the "normal" person, especially if mood improves. At least one hypomanic episode has to have ocurred for the diagnosis of Bipolar II.

I'm not sure about causes. Some say it's genetic, others say it's not. Like with most mental health topics, it's difficult to know which things really play into it because each person is so different and all of it is so theoretical.

When being medicated, being put on only an anti-depressant can trigger a manic episode, so a mood-stabalizer also needs to be used.

I'm including a couple of the links I checked out when I was initially diagnosed.

Answer 3

In Bipolar II, the person suffers from Major Depression and hypomania. In Bipolar I, the person suffers from Major Depression and mania. The manic part of Bipolar Disorder is more extreme in Bipolar I than Bipolar II

Answer 4

Bipolar II is Major Depression with mild manic phases called hypomania.

I work in Mental Health, I have Major Depression and my brother has Bipolar II.

The most obvious thing about my brother's illness is irritability. He can be pretty hard to get along with; he has a tendency to make mean spirited comments and to make a big deal out of minor inconveniences. He was getting treatment for depression, but he didn't tell the doctor about the irritability for years. His wife finally told him to tell the doctor how he was acting or she pretty much had it. He got put on Lithium and his mood is a lot better, he's a lot easier to get along with.

I have a friend who has Bipolar I, and he talks a mile a minute, sometimes his conversation doesn't even make sense, he jumps from one topic to another randomly. His symptoms are clearly different from what my brother has.

Most people who meet my friend would probably think "he's crazy." WIth my brother, people would be more likely to say "he's an asshole."

Answer 5

Bipolar is divided into classes by the type of symptoms and the cycling of moods. A person has mania, depression and sometimes psychotic features. If you do a search you can find the DSM criteria for all mental illnesses and it will explain it. Bipolar generally has to be isolated for the Schizo spectrum of disorders because of the occasional psychotic features.

Answer 6

Simple answer:
Crazy moodswings all the time.
One minute your really happy and for no reason you suddenly go crazy and are in a bad mood, then all the sudden your sad, joyful etc...
My friend has bipolar, it's crazy. We were in school once and all the sudden she just got mad at me for no reason, so she yelled at the top of her lungs that I had a crush on this guy. Afterward, she was sad and crying at her desk for no reason. I believe it is due to a chemical imbalance in the brain.

Answer 7

DEAR MISS

HERE IS WHAT IT IS OK I KNOW I HAVE IT AND THE PERSON BELOW DID NOT LIST RIGHT SO VERY SORRY

NOT TRYING TO HURT ANY ONE ON YAHOO ANSWERS BUT HERE IS WHAT CAUSES BIPOLAR 1,2,3,4 OK

(1ST) ALWAYS CHECK OUT FAMILY HISTORY BOTH SIDES MOTHERS FATHERS GRAND MOTHERS GRAND FATHERS ALWAYS THE FAMILY GENE POOL OK

(2ND) BIPOLAR 1,2 GOES ALONG WITH THE BIRTH DEFECT CEREBRAL PALSY YOU ARE BORN WITH IT OK AND HAVE HAD GRAND MILD SEE GR'S ALL THERE LIFE LIKE ME

(3RD) 3,4 IS CALLED SCHIZOPHRENIA THAT YOU CAN HARDLY DO ANY THING WITH SOME ONE WHO HAS IT
(3) YOU STILL CAN CONTROL IT WITH MEDICINE'S
4 YOU CAN NOT AT ALL

I AM NOT TRYING TO BE CRUDE RUDE HEART LESS ARE HURT FULL OK TO EVERY ONE ON YAHOO

ANSWERS LIKE I SAID I WANT FRIENDS NOT ANY ONE MAD AT ME ARE THEM JUST FRIENDS JUST WHEN IT COMES TO SOME THING LIKE THIS I HAVE HAD 35

YEARS OF LIVING WITH IT READ THE POST IF YOU CAN FIND IT WITH MY LIST OF ABOUT 15 MEDICATIONS I FOR GOT TO ADD TAKING THE B-12 SHOTS TOO

OK LIKE I SAID I AM NOT TRYING TO BE CRUDE RUDE HEART LESS HURT FULL ARE ANY THING MY PARENTS RAISED ME BETTER THEN THAT OK ONE AND ALL

TAKE CARE

PEACE LOVE

GOOD LUCK

AND BEST WISHES