maybe you've heard the term bipolar used
to describe someone who's moody or who
has mood swings but this colloquial use
of the term is really different from
bipolar disorder bipolar disorder which
used to be called manic depression is a
serious mental illness that causes a
person to have dramatic shifts in
emotions mood and energy levels moving
from extreme lows to extreme highs but
these shifts don't happen moment to
moment they usually happen over several
days or weeks there are a few different
types of bipolar disorders but there are
some common features first the low moods
are identical to those in a related
disorder major depressive disorder also
known as unipolar depression individuals
with this can feel hopeless and
discouraged lack energy and mental focus
and can have physical symptoms like
eating and sleeping too much or too
little but along with these lows the
thing that sets bipolar disorders apart
from unipolar depression is that
individuals can have periods of high
moods which are called manic episodes or
hypomanic episodes depending on their
level of severity in a manic state
people can feel energetic overly happy
or optimistic even euphoric with really
high self-esteem and on the surface
these might seem like really positive
characteristics but when someone's in a
full manic episode these symptoms can
reach a dangerous extreme a person
experiencing mania might invest all of
their money in a risky business venture
or they might behave recklessly
individuals might have pressured speech
where they talked constantly at a
rapid-fire pace or they might have
racing thoughts and might feel wired as
if they don't need sleep manic episodes
can also include delusions of grandeur
like for example they might believe that
they're on a personal mission from God
or that they have some supernatural
power and finally they might make poor
decisions without any regard for later
consequences
one way to understand these swings is by
charting them on a graph so let's hit
the y axis is mood with mania and
depression being on the far end of the
axis and the x axis is time the average
healthy individual might have normal ups
and downs throughout their life and they
might even have some pretty serious lows
once in a while maybe after losing a job
or moving to a new place and feeling
lonely an individual with the unipolar
depression though might have normal
highs but they'll probably also have
some crushing lows that last for a long
period of time and might not even have
an obvious trigger now for the bipolar
disorders the first one is called
bipolar one and these are people that
have some major lows that last at least
two weeks and then some major highs that
lasts at least a week or require
hospitalization that said untreated
manic episodes can last as long as 3 to
6 months and even though depression is
seen in most cases it's not actually
required for a diagnosis the second one
is called bipolar 2 and this is when a
person experiences similar lows and has
additional heís called hypo mania which
are less severe manic episodes than we
see in bipolar 1 to qualify for a
diagnosis these hypomanic states need to
last for at least 4 days once again
though these symptoms generally last a
few weeks to a few months all right the
third one's called cyclothymia or
sometimes cyclothymic disorder and these
people have milder lows as well as
milder highs or hypomania like you see
in bipolar 2 and they cycle back and
forth between these two over a period
lasting at least two years sometimes
people with bipolar disorder can show
other less common symptoms as well for
example having what I refer to as mixed
episodes experiencing symptoms of both
depression and mania at the same time
another symptom they might have is rapid
cycling which describes a situation
where a person has four or more episodes
of depression or mania within a given
year like most mental health conditions
the exact underlying cause of bipolar
disorder isn't known and there's no
single bipolar gene that's been
identified but it saw that there are
genetic and
mental factors that play a part for
example one interesting clue is that
people with family members who have
bipolar disorders are 10 times more
likely to have it themselves another
clue is that some drugs and medications
can trigger manic episodes like
selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors
or SSRIs it's also worth mentioning that
people with bipolar disorder often have
other disorders like anxiety disorders
substance abuse disorders ADHD and
personality disorders as well making
diagnosis and treatment a real challenge
even though there's no cure for bipolar
disorder identifying and treating
individuals is really important since
there's a real danger that the person
could harm themselves or even commit
suicide one of the oldest treatments is
also one of the most effective
treatments and that's a lithium salts
lithium acts as a mood stabilizer it's
moving out the highs and the lows that
they experience that said it's much
better at treating manic rather than
depressive episodes and so individuals
who take it often have to take other
medications as well which can be
problematic since some antidepressants
like SSRIs can trigger manic episodes in
people that are predisposed to them
other treatment options include
antipsychotics anticonvulsant sin
benzodiazepines but many of these
including lithium have side effects that
can be severe and lead to non-adherence
which can be dangerous for the person
now unlike certain disorders like
unipolar depression psychological
interventions like talk therapy or
cognitive behavioral therapy are not
particularly effective in treating the
manic episodes of bipolar disorder
having said that they can still be very
helpful tools to help someone with
bipolar disorder in general especially
after a manic episode has ended they can
also help the person handle stressful
situations that might otherwise lead to
a manic episode thereby helping to
prevent a potential manic episode in the
first place alright so super fast recap
bipolar disorder is a mental disorder
characterized by depression periods of
lowered mood as well as mania periods of
a heightened mood
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