Bipolar disorder, sometimes referred to as manic-depression, is a genetically-based psychiatric disorder, which involves poorly regulated changes in brain chemistry resulting in extreme mood swings. With the right diagnosis and treatment plan (usually a combination of mood-stabilising medication and therapy), a person with bipolar can have a long, happy and successful life.
Signs of Bipolar Disorder include episodes of mania or hypomania, which can involve euphoric and expansive mood; or dysphoric mood, which is marked by high levels of irritability and agitation. These episodes also typically include grandiose self-image, decreased need of sleep, rapid thoughts, pressured speech, distractibility, increased energy and creative desires, and severe impulsivity that lead to high-risk behaviours.
Mania lasts at least seven days in a row, and can lead to severe consequences to health, finances and relationships. Hypomania has the same symptoms, but usually of shorter duration—at least four days—and often with fewer consequences per episode.
In bipolar depressive episodes, the mood can become severely reduced, dark, and demoralising. Often in this mood zone, a person becomes very sad, restless, low on energy, hopeless, and even suicidal. While manic or hypomanic, a person can feel terrific, charged with energy and a sense of great creativity, and a strong desire to get several things done at once. However, bipolar depression will make the same person lose energy and interest in anything important or pleasurable, potentially causing a severe crash in his or her emotional or physical well-being.
Cycles of manic, hypomanic, and depressive episodes can last from several days to several weeks, and often come with periods of feeling “in-between,” known as the baseline mood zone. In the most severe instances of bipolar, psychotic features including hallucinations or delusions may be present during extreme mood episodes.
