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Bipolar Disorder

What is it?

By Scott LavelyPublished 5 years ago 4 min read
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Image from https://www.verywellmind.com/bipolar-disorder

Many of us have heard the word "Bipolar," I believe. It comes from Bipolar Disorder, a Personality Disorder (definition: An ingrained behavior in which the person shows signs of such a thing by the adolescent period of their life; this may affect their relationships and role in society). There are three major Bipolar Disorders I would like to focus on for this chapter: Bipolar I Disorder, Bipolar II Disorder, and Cyclothymic Disorder.

Bipolar I Disorder:

Symptoms may include manic episodes that last for seven days or more, episodes that put the victim in a hospital, usually depressive episodes lasting about two weeks, and the possibility of mixed emotions (a manic episode and depressive state at the same time, perhaps).

Bipolar II Disorder:

This disorder is often claimed to be not as severe as Bipolar I disorder, because the symptoms may not be as long or harsh as that disorder; symptoms may include the pattern of depressive and hypomanic states/episodes, but not complete manic episodes that were listed in the Bipolar I Disorder category.

Cyclothymic Disorder:

Multiple periods of a depressive state and hypomanic episodes lasting as long as two years for adults, but one year for children and teenagers.

I know a few of you are looking at this information and thinking, "Wow, that was short." That's not all; that's just the different symptoms for those three classifications of the Bipolar Disorder. Now, let's actually talk about the Disorder as a whole.

These people can express intense emotions that are unnatural or unusual, they may change patterns in sleep and activity, and may express unusual behaviors. These periods are known as "Mood episodes." These extreme changes are usually different than the usual attitude and activity of the people affected by Bipolar Disorder.

Manic episodes may display: feeling elevated, a lot of energy, increase in activity levels, feeling weird, feeling agitated, talking fast about different things, having issues sleeping, feel like their thoughts are running really fast, thinking or attempt to do multiple things all at once, and maybe even do risky in-the-moment things, like having unprotected sex, spending bunches of money, or something worse.

Depressive episodes may display: feeling depressed (sad, down, etc.), have little energy and decreased activity levels, troubles with sleeping (may sleep too little or too much), feel unenjoyable about everything, feeling worried and empty, trouble with concentration, Forgetfulness, eating too much or too little, feeling tired/slow, and thinking about death, suicide, or self harm.

A mood episode may include symptoms from both of the two above lists; this is why it's called a "mixed features episode."

A hypomanic episode, though, is basically a manic episode, but not as severe; the person may be feeling energized and upbeat, and not think that anything's really wrong, but the people around them may notice the mood swing, and seek out a doctor/psychiatrist. Without treatment though, people suffering from hypomania are likely to develop depression and/or severe mania.

The right diagnosis and treatment is necessary for a Bipolar individual to seek out a normal life, wouldn't you agree? Usually, you would see your doctor who would do a physical examination to ensure that it's not an illness, and then he would conduct a mental health evaluation to refer you to a psychiatrist or mental health professional. But people with Bipolar Disorder are usually proven to seek out a doctor when they're experiencing a depressive state, so it's careful evaluation that needs to happen to ensure that unipolar depression (which means someone only suffers from depression) and Bipolar Disorder are not confused; the reflection of the patient's medical history is often a way of seeking out this information accurately. Bipolar can also be confused as a few other Disorders because of similar symptoms: Psychosis (similar symptoms: hallucinations and delusions) {this can lead to the misdiagnosis of Schizophrenia} and substance abuse (similar symptoms: the misuse of drugs/alcohol/medications, relationship issues, and/or poor performance at school and/or work).

The risk factors come in three different factors: Brain structure/functioning (bipolar brains differ from "healthily normal" brains), and family history/genetics (you can receive Bipolar Disorder from genes, but it is not likely).

Medications can be prescribed as a form of treatment, including Atypical Antipsychotics, Antidepressants, and Mood Stabilizers. Those who take these medications may want to become aware of the symptoms and warnings of those medications, and the medication prescriptions may change the medication or dosage to find what's best for the patient.

Psychotherapy is also a treatment option; combined with medication, therapy may become very affective for the individual. some types of Psychotherapy include family therapy, behavioral therapy, interpersonal and social rhythm therapy, and psycho-education.

Doctors can usually give helpful information when it comes to these treatment options and a few others.

That's it! I hope this was very informative.

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About the Creator

Scott Lavely

I am a transgender individual trying to bring light to LGBTQA+ in the USA and other areas of the world

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