People with bipolar disorder experience episodes of severe depression and episodes of mania: overwhelming joy, excitement or happiness, enormous energy, reduced need for sleep, and reduced inhibitions. The experience of bipolar disorder is uniquely personal. No two people have exactly the same experience.
Bipolar disorder
is a mental health condition characterized by intense changes in mood.People with the disease change from mania or hypomania (an emotional state of energy and joy, or sometimes aggressive or delirious) to having episodes of depression. Bipolar disorder is characterized by extreme mood swings. These can range from extreme climbs (mania) to extreme lows (depression). Episodes of mania and depression usually last several weeks or months.
If you have bipolar disorder, you may have episodes of depression more often than episodes of mania, or vice versa. Between episodes of depression and mania, you may sometimes have periods when you have a normal mood. During episodes of mania and depression, a person with bipolar disorder may experience strange sensations, such as seeing, hearing, or smelling things that are not present (hallucinations). Bipolar disorder is a condition that causes drastic changes in mood (among other symptoms).
A person with bipolar disorder will alternate between periods of mania (high mood) and periods of depression (feelings of intense sadness). Between these two extremes, a person will have periods of normal mood. To help you better understand how you feel, mania and depression are described below. There is some evidence that this complementary therapy can help with depression caused by bipolar disorder.
Bipolar disorder, formerly called manic-depressive disorder, is a mental health condition that causes extreme mood swings that include emotional highs (mania or hypomania) and lows (depression). Learning more and teaching family members about bipolar disorder can help support you when episodes occur. Bipolar II disorder also involves high and low moods, but depressive symptoms are more likely to dominate and your manic symptoms are less severe. Having a substance use disorder can also make it more difficult to get an accurate diagnosis, as the doctor may have difficulty identifying which symptoms are due to bipolar disorder and which are derived from substance use.
Intense feelings, from feeling like you can do anything to feeling hopeless, are among the most common experiences shared by many people living with bipolar disorder. People with bipolar disorder are more likely to have seasonal depression, coexisting anxiety disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder, and obsessive compulsive disorder. If someone acts in the following ways, especially for several weeks in a row, bipolar disorder is a possible cause. Medical help, such as medication, can go a long way in managing these “ups and downs” so that a person can effectively live with bipolar disorder.
Although bipolar disorder can occur at any age, it is usually diagnosed in adolescence or early 20s. When a person develops bipolar disorder, it usually begins in late adolescence or early adulthood. The diagnosis of bipolar disorder is based on the person's symptoms and whether they may be the result of another cause (such as low thyroid or mood symptoms caused by drug or alcohol abuse). Ups and downs are natural in any romantic relationship, but when your partner has bipolar disorder, it can feel like you're on an emotional roller coaster ride.
And if you're like some people with bipolar disorder, you might enjoy the feeling of euphoria and the cycles of being more productive. Learn exactly what a bipolar diagnosis means, how it might affect your partner's behavior, and what you can do to foster a healthy and stable relationship. .
