Bipolar Disorder

Aug 27
11:09

2009

RicoKurniawan

RicoKurniawan

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Bipolar disorder or as it is also called manic depression is a psychiatric illness that leads to dramatic and unpredictable swings in a person’s mood, energy, thinking and behavior for a long period of time.

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 Unlike ordinary mood shifts,Bipolar Disorder Articles the mood changes of bipolar disorder are extremely intense and affect your ability to function. There are 2 absolutely contrasting phases: bipolar mania en bipolar depression. Very often they occur together and called “mixed state”, but in between these mood swings people with bipolar disorder lead a normal life.

So, for example, while being in a manic phase, a person can leave a job without a reason or spend a lot of money on unnecessary things. But during his depression period, the same person will be in despair because of losing his job and  being in debt.

To find out if you probably also suffer from the bipolar disorder, you need to know the signs of each of its phases.

Bipolar mania is characterized by:

- Irritability,

- Excessive talk,

- Fast changing thoughts,

- Unusual energy

- Less need for sleep.

Bipolar depression is characterized by:

-          Depressed mood and low self-esteem

-          Low energy level and apathy

-          Sadness, loneliness, helplessness, quilt

-          Slow speech, headache, helplessness, quilt

-          Insomnia or oversleeping

-          Suicidal thoughts and feelings

-          Poor concentration

-          Lack of interest or pleasure in usual activities.

Unfortunately bipolar disorder becomes more common and serious than many people think. It occurs mostly in the teenage years or early adulthood, but the causes of it are still not clear. It can be a genetic contribution and environmental influence, but it varies between individuals in different age or periods of life.

Diagnosis is usually based on the self-reported experiences or family members, friends, co-workers notice abnormalities in behavior of a person. However, in most cases people don’t indentify the disorder  or take it not serious enough, what results later in unnecessary suffering, although with the proper treatment and support they could easily get rid of this trouble. 

Speaking about bipolar disorder treatment, it is important to mention that it requires both medications and family support. Medications don’t always help and one needs to find the right combination to make the treatment process effective. During this time people with bipolar disorder need to feel encouragement and care of friends and family to cope with strong mood swings. Sometimes hospitalization is inevitable, when a person cannot deal with the disease at home.

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