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The Truth About Bipolar Disorder

It's not just up and downs, suffering from bipolar can be scary to those around you and yourself

By ShelbyPublished 3 years ago 4 min read
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Throughout my life, I have seen some serious misinformation that revolves around bipolar disorder, this is harmful to those who suffer from this disorder, we need to learn to avoid misleading information that continues to grow around the disorder.

One misconception that is blown out of proportion is that when a person who suffers from the disorder starts to get moody or suffers from a bad mood, it is caused by the disorder and only that. Sure, it can be easy to just write off a bad mood as the brain chemistry caused by bipolar, but, all in all, this is an easy exit route, it can even be an easy thing for people who suffer from the disorder to say just to avoid any further conversations. But, people who suffer from bipolar disorder react to their daily events no different from someone who does not have the disorder. Not everything in a sufferer's life is mania or depression, they have a right to have feelings like any other person. It can be easy or simple to assume that every outburst of sadness is that of an episode, but, it's time to stop taking the easy way out and blaming everything on a person's disorder.

Mania often just gets described as a happy or euphoric feeling, but, this is definitly nowhere near the whole story. Mania is grouped as increased irritability, irrational anger, and the inability to sleep. This can lead a person to take unnecessary risks. During a person's manic episode, the person can feel out of control of their own thoughts and even their actions. So, mania can start out as a happy feeling, but, it can quickly wither to the worst.

When you think of bipolar, do you think that medication is the only effective treatment for the disorder? What if I told you that it is far from the only treatment for the disorder. Therapy, ranging from psychotherapy and cognitive behavioral therapy, is excellent for teaching a person about their triggers and to help them gain more control over their emotions. A therapist can also help them plan their diets, exercise, a healthy sleep schedule, and how to keep those negative symptoms under control.

Some people are quick to assume that a person who is suffering from bipolar go from deep depressions to scary mania every day. That is far from the truth, only a small percentage of people who are suffering from bipolar go through this rapid cycling, which is a daily or hourly switch from mania and depression. In most cases, these switches take much longer, there can be several normal weeks in between these. And not every episode of depression or mania is severe, many people who are suffering from bipolar II experience a milder form of mania, hypomania, that can pass by virtually unnoticed.

Can someone stop treatment after a manic or depressive episode is over? Well, this isn't a good idea in the long haul. Bipolar is going to be a lifelong condition, the person isn't going to suddenly snap out of it after a bad episode. The end goal of bipolar treatment is to help the patient stabilize over time, so doctors often recommend they continue their treatments, which can be medication or therapy, even if they are feeling good.

So, people are easy to assume there is an easy test for a person to take to find out if they have bipolar disorder, but, that isn't the case yet. An at-home test for bipolar disorder had made waves a couple of years ago, but, it has since then been proven to be inconclusive, it was only able to test a few genes that are thought to be linked to the disorder. In reality, it may be able to show if you have a genetic predisposition for the disorder, at best, not if you actually have it. Some brain scans have also shown some promise in the hopes of identifying irregular brain patterns in patients, but their results are far from definitive as of current.

Are you quick to assume that bipolar is just an inability to control emotions? That is far from the truth, bipolar has nothing to do with control. So, telling someone who is suffering from the disorder to calm down or to try harder is far from helping, in fact, it is rather counterproductive, this is because the disorder is a real mental illness that can't simply be wished away or simply overcome without willpower or help. These mood swings aren't a choice, and taking such a snap out of it point of view will only end up causing harm in the long run.

It is easy to think that bipolar can't be diagnosed until adulthood, and, until recently, it was considered an adult disorder that started at age 18. Now the medical community has started to acknowledge a condition called Early Onset Bipolar Disorder, which can start in children as young as six-years-old. These symptoms, of course, are different, but, the overall pattern of the child's mania and depression is the same.

Many people assume that drug abuse can cause the disorder. Drug abuse can't cause bipolar disorder, this would be like someone saying that sugar can cause ADHD. Drug use can make the symptoms worse and make it more difficult for a doctor to properly diagnosis a person, but, drug use can't suddenly make a person bipolar. If your family has a history of bipolar disorder, it is best to steer clear of using drugs or alcohol, as they may affect you more strongly than they do others.

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About the Creator

Shelby

Just a girl who loves to write about paranormal and life stuff. Please enjoy

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