You may have heard people discussing bipolar or manic depressive disorder, with regard to a family member or close friend. Yet did they truly understand what the terms mean? Both are one and the same, and symptoms include extreme feelings of euphoria during the manic phase and intensely dark emotionally black days during the depressive phase. It is classified as bipolar type I, which is the most severe type; and bipolar type II, in which sufferers exhibit less extreme changes in mood.
The manic phases of bipolar disorder are defined by a dramatic increase in energy leading to over confidence and over activity. The patient is also commonly very talkative with a high speech rate. The ability to think rationally and to behave properly in social settings, as well as the length of their attention span is drastically lowered. This, in turn, leads to the affected person thinking about and pursuing unrealistic and many times dangerous ideas, as well as creating unintentional and embarrassing situations in public.
If bipolar disorder is left untreated, mania can develop into a psychotic state. The hypomania characteristic for bipolar type II is less destructive than the full blown mania, in that the symptoms are much less severe and typically last for a shorter period of time. The hypomania state can lead to creative outbursts as well as unusually high innovative problem solving skills in some individuals.
Sometimes manic depressive disorder patients experience a mixed state where certain aspects of the manic and the depressive states occur next to each other. As an example, it is possible that a patient can experiences paranoia, insomnia, anxiety and suicidal thoughts, as well as aggressiveness, agitation and hyperactivity. These mixed episodes of bipolar mania and feeling depressed are often the most destructive mental states, sometimes leading to self-mutilation, substance abuse and suicidal thoughts, if left untreated.
It must be said that manic depressive disorder is a serious condition and arguably the worst of all types of depression-related disorders. It may be, to a large extent, genetically pre-determined, so it cannot be healed. But the condition can be alleviated and controlled through proper medical management. Those who are bipolar are advised to seek medical help as soon as possible.
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