What is Depression?
Everyone has felt depression at some point in their lives. However,
if the depression lasts more than two weeks and doesn't seem to be proportional
to a cause or attached to a cause at all, then more in likely the person is
experiencing a major depression.
What is Bipolar Disorder?
Bipolar Disorder, the modern day term for manic depressive disorder,
is a serious medical condition. A simple description is that the disorder
is like a malfunctioning regulator of the brain's chemicals that manifests
as abnormal behavior in terms of mood swings between manic states (highs),
depressive states (lows) and sometime mixed states.
Who gets it and how?
Formal statistics indicate about 1% of the population have the disorder. However, experts in the field are now beginning to believe that the figure is more like 7%. It affects all races and sex equally. Bipolar is not contagious or a disease.
How is it diagnosed?
Bipolar Disorder is difficult to diagnose because many of the symptoms
mimic other disorders or conditions such as thyroid malfunctioning. Diagnosis
of Bipolar Disorder must be made by a mental health professional.
Depression as part of bipolar disorder?
This can manifest itself as being unable to get out of bed for days at a time. Major/Clinical Depression can be dangerous because it creates an overwhelming sense of worthlessness and desperation that makes conditions ripe for suicidal thoughts and actions.
What is Mania?
Mania is best described by the symptoms. They include insomnia, pressured
or rapid speech and grandiosity. Typical behavioral patterns are uncontrollable
spending and other risky behaviors with no thought of consequences. Sometimes
people in a manic state can become psychotic (lose touch with reality) and
in extreme cases can become delusional.
What is Hypo mania?
Hypo means small or mild. Hypo mania is a mild mania. Hypo manic
symptoms are basically the same as mania but are generally confined to only
a few and there are no psychotic or delusion features.
What's the difference between Bipolar I and Bipolar II?
The difference is basically the degree of mania. Both have depressive
episodes but Bipolar II only experiences hypo manic episodes and not full
manic episodes.
What is Rapid Cycling?
The time it takes to swing from a depression to a mania and back
is considered a cycle. Normally a cycle occurs over years, but a cycle can
go a quick as within a few months, days or even hours. This known as rapid
cycling which can be especially debilitating to the patient and is often induced
by some anti-depressants.
What is a Mixed State?
A mixed state is when the patient experiences symptoms of both mania
and depression and the same time. An example would be rapid thoughts, which
is manic, but those thoughts are of death and suicide which is depressive.
Is it Curable?*
Once the disorder develops it's there for life and must be dealt with otherwise
it typically gets more severe over time. However, with the use of therapy
and modern medications the bipolar person can lead a fairly normal life. Today,
research and development of new treatments and medications is active and ongoing
making it easier and easier to deal with.
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Ken and Lisa of www.bipolarsupport.org kindly provided the above outline.
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*A Miracle Cure?
Most experts will tell you that there is no cure, but I do not see this as a reason not to be looking for one. My research over the last 7 years indicates the first step for a bipolar person is to realise they can get massively better if they view their recovery as a long term project. Having accepted this, medication is almost always needed but the patient needs to work with professionals to get the the most appropriate medicines, (the first combination is rarely the right one) for a particular stage of their lives. Further recovery comes from understanding your own mind and body, so that you know what causes the mood swings. Of course, believing this can be done all by your own efforts (paddling) is not realistic, so the most crucial step towards a cure is the realisation that we are not alone and there are loads of people out there wanting to share their ideas (sailing) making remarkable (miracle?) recoveries possible. When people with bipolar live ordinary or even extraordinary lives unhampered by the disorder then is this not a cure?
Roger Smith 3rd July 2005 (The morning after "Live 8")
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A lot more has been written about bipolar...
Links / Bipolar recovery / Home
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