Bipolar Disorder | Manic Depression Information | Manic Attack - An Overview

Bipolar disorder, also known as manic depression, is a mental illness characterized by intense mood swings. These mood swings are much more severe than the usual highs and lows that we all experience. While most people will experience a sad or depressed mood due to something bad happening in their lives, someone with a manic depressive illness will often experience depressive episodes or dysthymia for no reason other than the illness itself. They are not depressed because something bad happened to them. The manic episodes or hypomania of bipolar disorder don’t occur because something good happens to them. Bipolar disorder throws the sufferer into distorted mood extremes. The manic and depressive episodes occur with a barrage of other symptoms as well.

When someone with bipolar disorder has an elevated mood accompanied by impaired judgment and a decreased need for sleep, they are said to be having a manic episode. Other bipolar disorder symptoms of manic episodes include excessive energy and restlessness, irritability, and difficulty concentrating. The impaired judgment along with the euphoria experienced during a manic episode often leads to risky behavior, such as promiscuity, excessive spending, and risky gambling. A person experiencing a severe manic episode may have a psychotic episode during which they have delusions of having superhuman powers or abilities. Someone with a manic depressive illness may experience hypomania instead of more severe manic episodes. Some people who experience manic episodes or hypomania will neglect their treatment, because the mania can feel good.

A depressive episode is a period during which the person experiences a depressed mood, lack of interest in things that used to be pleasurable to them, and changes in eating and sleeping habits. Depressive episodes may also cause suicidal thoughts, feelings of hopelessness and helplessness, decreased energy, and physical pain that cannot be explained by injury.

Bipolar disorder strains relationships. Family members and friends of people who suffer from a manic depressive illness have difficulty understanding what the sufferer is enduring. Family and friends often have limited knowledge and understanding of the symptoms. They may think that the person with bipolar disorder should be able to control their behavior. They may tell someone experiencing a depressive episode to "snap out of it" or "cheer up," not realizing that it is not within the sufferer’s power to do so. They may consider the excessive spending of someone in a manic episode to be purely selfish or irresponsible. Family and friends may also take the symptoms personally, such as perceiving the irritability that mania causes as a personal attack. People experiencing a depressive episode may isolate themselves, which could be perceived by others as a lack of interest. Even if the family is knowledgeable about bipolar disorder, coping with the extremes in mood and behavior of the effected individual can be quite stressful.

The cause of bipolar disorder is largely unknown. There is vague and sometimes contradictory scientific research that has attempted to pinpoint the exact cause. Some research has pointed to extra brain activity as the cause for the extremes found in bipolar disorder. There is a hereditary component to bipolar disorder. Most researchers agree that there is no single cause for bipolar disorder, but rather a combination of contributing factors. Anyone can develop bipolar disorder, including children and adolescents.

There is no cure for bipolar disorder. Those who have the illness are likely to experience recurring episodes throughout their lives. Bipolar disorder is treatable. There are a number of methods used to control the symptoms. Someone with bipolar disorder should work closely with their doctor to determine what course of bipolar disorder treatment is best for them. There are several medication options and different therapeutic approaches to managing bipolar disorder. Bipolar disorder is one of the most treatable mental illnesses. However, if bipolar disorder is left untreated, it tends to get worse, with more frequent and more severe episodes. The common diagnosis of bipolar disorder are categorized into 2 main classifications, Bipolar I and Bipolar II.

The severity of the symptoms varies from person to person. During the lifetime of someone with bipolar disorder, the severity of the illness may change as well. Most people with bipolar disorder lead normal, productive lives with the help of treatment to manage the symptoms. Some people with bipolar disorder have difficulty controlling the symptoms and may rely heavily on hospitalization. A few people may have psychosis, such as hallucinations or most likely delusions that can accompany a severe depressive or manic episode. Most people with manic depressive disorder are not plagued with psychotic episodes.

The portrayal of manic depression in the media does an injustice to those who suffer from the disorder. Often, on television and in movies, people with bipolar disorder are portrayed as serial killers or otherwise disturbed individuals. This is part of the stigma that people who have manic depressive illness face. Knowing that most people who have bipolar disorder lead normal lives, a fictional character with bipolar disorder that is a serial killer is a gross misrepresentation of the disorder. But what the media exposes the public to becomes public knowledge, and therefore the general public tends to have a distorted view of bipolar disorder. The vast majority of people who have bipolar disorder could not be identified as having the disorder unless they tell you. They are not knife-wielding lunatics lurking in the alley. They are our neighbors, our family, our co-workers, and our friends.