Bipolar disorder (Depression Mania) Are you Bipolar? Check symptoms and types

Definition of Bipolar disorder:

You probably have heard before about the term (bipolar) and it uses this term to describe a moody person or one who has sudden mood swings, but this common usage of this term is really different from bipolar disorder, which was called in the past (manic depression). A serious mental illness that causes the patient to drastic changes in emotions, mood, and energy levels, as it turns from the lowest extreme energy levels to the highest extreme at all. But it is taken into account that these changes do not occur from one moment to the next, but rather take periods (several days or weeks).

Types of Bipolar disorder :

There are many types of bipolar disorder, but these types are often characterized by many similar factors:

First: Unipolar disorder:

Patients' bad moods are exactly the same as symptoms of another associated disorder, major depressive disorder, also known as a unipolar disorder characterized with: Patients might feel this disorder in despair, frustration, lack of energy and mental focus, and physical symptoms may also appear on them, such as overeating or sleeping, or lack of eating or sleeping.

Second: bipolar disorder:

What characterizes bipolar disorders from unipolar depression is that bipolar patients sometimes go through periods of extreme good mood, which are called "manic episodes" or "hypomania" episodes and this depends on the level of severity of the disorder they have.

In the case of mania: there are many highs(ups) in the patient's mood as he feels energetic and overly happy, optimistic, or even euphoric with extreme self-confidence and on the surface, these lead to seeming very positive qualities.
But when a person is in a state of complete obsession: that causes these symptoms to reach the stages of his danger, then patients will invest all their money in a risky project or they act recklessly while they are in a state of obsession, patients often speak impulsively as they speak repeatedly as quickly as the speed of fire or it affects their thoughts, and they may feel as though they are machines where they do not need sleep, and manic episodes include delusions of grandeur, for example, they think that they are sent on a personal mission by God or that they possess superhuman strength and make some wrong decisions without any consideration of its subsequent consequences.

How do I know if I have a unipolar disorder or bipolar disorder(symptoms)?

Firstly: the normal, healthy person:

It is subjected to a normal decline and highs in mood during his life and even suffers from some very dangerous lows in the mood from time to time, for example (after losing a job or when moving to a new place and feeling lonely.

Second: The sufferer of unipolar depression:

In this symptom, they feel a good mood normally, but the depressions in their moods are destructive and last for a long period, and that condition may not have a specific cause.

Third: the person with bipolar depression:

There are two categories:

First known as Bipolar 1:

Patients with this disorder suffer from a significant deterioration of their mood that lasts for at least two weeks and some prominent levels of ascendancy that last for at least a week or may require hospitalization until the untreated manic episodes may last between three to six months and depression appears in most Cases but not essential in diagnosing the disorder.

Second, known as Bipolar 2:

Patients with this disorder experience similar depressions in mood and have additional elevations of mood called hypomania that is less severe than episodes of mania and less than type I bipolar 1.

This hypomania must be present for at least four days to be diagnosed with this disorder. Also, however, these symptoms usually last from several weeks to several months.

Third, known as Cyclic or cyclothymic mood disorder:

These people suffer from milder states of good mood or "hypomania", such as what you see in type 2 bipolar disorder, and they fluctuate between these two for a period that lasts up to at least two years, for example suffering from what is referred to as mixed seizures - meaning they suffer Another symptom and one that they may suffer from is the rapid mood swings (shifts) cycle, which describes a condition in which a patient suffers from 4 episodes of depression or mania or lows degrees of energy or more during a given year. Like most mental health conditions, the exact underlying cause of bipolar disorder is unknown.

Causes:

1) Genetics - environmental:

A single "bipolar gene" has not been identified, but it is believed that there is, for example, one interesting piece of evidence that people who have family members suffer from genetic and environmental factors that play a role in that disorder 10 times more often.

2) Some drugs:

Another clue is that some drugs and medications can trigger episodes of mania, such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs).

Symptoms of bipolar disorder:

It is also worth noting that people who suffer from bipolar disorder often suffer from other disorders such as :

anxiety disorders.
Substance abuse disorders.
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.
Personality disorders as well.

This makes diagnosis and treatment a real challenge.

Chronic disease :

Although there is no cure for bipolar disorder, identifying and treating people who suffer from it is very important as this person is at risk of self-harm or suicide.

Treatment :

One of the oldest treatments and also one of the most effective :

First lithium salts:

Where lithium salts act as a mood stabilizer - to reduce the mood swings they suffer from, but they treat manic episodes better than depressive episodes, and therefore, people who take them often have to take other medications as well, which can cause a problem as some antidepressants (such as inhibitors) Selective serotonin recovery) can be the catalyst for manic episodes for people who are predisposed to these episodes.

Second: Other treatment options include antipsychotics, anticonvulsants, and benzodiazepines.

However, many of them - including lithium salts - have side effects that can be severe and lead to non-compliance with their intake, which puts the patient at risk.

Third: Unlike some disorders such as unipolar depression, psychological interventions such as:

Talk therapy or CBT is not particularly effective in treating manic episodes in bipolar disorder it helps the patient to control his mental health. However, they are still very useful methods of helping people with bipolar disorder in general - especially after the manic episodes have ended and they can also help the patient to deal with stressful situations that could otherwise lead to a seizure and could lead to a manic episode, thus helping to prevent potential manic episodes in the first place.

If you suffered the same symptoms of any of these Bipolar disorders or if you know someone feels the same, leave us a comment with your opinion or send us an e-mail and share the article with your friends for a positive better life.

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