(smooth music)
- Hey everybody, happy Thursday.
Now, today's question is all about Bipolar 1 Disorder.
What is it and how can it feel to those who have it?
And just as a reminder, I release videos
on Mondays and on Thursdays,
so make sure you're subscribed
and have your notifications turned on
so that you don't miss out.
Now, to get into what Bipolar 1 Disorder is,
first, I wanna read to you what the diagnostic criteria is.
And if you don't know what I mean by diagnostic criteria,
just know that this is what mental health professionals,
like myself, use to help them determine
what mental illness you have.
They look into the DSM or other manual,
depending on what country you live in,
and they check to see if your symptoms line up
with the diagnosis they are considering.
With all of that said, in order to be diagnosed
with Bipolar 1 Disorder, you must meet the criteria
for a manic episode.
Now, the manic episode may have a hypomanic,
meaning not quite as high-leveled,
or a major depressive episode, meaning swinging way into
the low side, feeling super, super depressed.
So, it may have one of those episodes before or after it.
But, you just have to meet the criteria
for a manic episode.
And in order to do that, you must have a distinct period
of abnormality and persistently elevated,
expansive, or irritable moods,
and abnormally and persistently increased
goal-directed activity or energy.
And this has to last for at least one week
and present most of the day, nearly every day.
And during this period, you must also have three or more
of the following symptoms.
Number one, inflated self-esteem or grandiosity.
Number two, decreased need for sleep.
You could feel rested maybe after only three hours or so.
Number three, you are more talkative than usual
or feel internal pressure to keep talking.
In my practice, I notice this when I can't seem
to get a word in with a patient
and they just keep talking, almost without taking a breath.
Number four, you can have a flight of ideas
or feel like your thoughts are racing.
And this is really when we can feel like
we're having way too many good ideas
and we can't even capture them all.
Many of my patients have said that
this can feel like all their good ideas
are just slipping through their fingers.
Number five, distractibility.
And this is kind of self-explanatory,
but we can be easily pulled into things
that aren't important or struggle to say on topic.
Number six, an increase in goal-oriented activity.
This can be at work, school, socially.
We can even be overly sexual or feel agitated.
And in my experience, most of my patients
will be focused on one major thing,
like this presentation they wanna put together for work
or a party that they're going to throw,
it's gonna be the best thing ever.
Or, they just feel really irritated
with anything and everything.
And number seven, and the last one,
is excessive involvement in activities
that have a high potential for painful consequences.
And this is the one
that really bothers my patients the most.
This is when we go on shopping sprees
or just overspend in general.
We can have a sexual encounter that we usually wouldn't.
We can foolishly invest money,
and the list can go on and on and on.
Pretty much, we do things that we normally wouldn't.
And once we come down from this manic episode
that we've been in, these are the things
that can push us down into that depressive episode
because we can feel extreme guilt, embarrassment,
or just upset with the choices that we made.
Now, this manic episode must impair our ability
to function in our life, socially, at work or school.
You know the drill, this comes along
with all diagnostic criteria.
But, Bipolar 1 cannot be due to a medical condition
or induced by drugs or medication,
other than an antidepressant.
Because if you aren't aware, when we're misdiagnosed
as having depression, which happens all the time,
then we'll put us on an antidepressant
when we really have Bipolar 1 Disorder,
and that antidepressant has the ability
to push us into a manic episode.
Because a lot of antidepressants
have this stimulating response
and this stimulating symptom that they give.
And so, if we're feeling really depressed,
it can push us straight out of that
and all the way into mania.
And many of my patients have had this happen,
and that's why it's really,
really important to track our symptoms,
ask any question that we may have,
and ensure that we are properly diagnosed.
Because remember, you know yourself
and your experience best.
Now, the final part of this question is,
what can Bipolar 1 feel like to someone who has it?
And that's honestly gonna be really,
really hard for me to describe fully because as you know,
everyone is different.
So, I encourage any of you who have Bipolar 1 Disorder
to leave in the comments how it feels to you,
what's your experience?
And that way, we can all learn from one another
and be more informed and educated.
But, based on my experience in my office,
Bipolar 1 Disorder can feel good at times
because mania can be a little euphoric.
But, this feeling doesn't always last very long.
But, when my patients are sort of ramping up
into this manic episode,
they can really struggle to see it as a problem
and they feel good about how productive they're being,
or they're really enjoying the surge of energy,
because usually, this comes out of a depressive episode,
so they're like, "Ooh, goody."
And I've also had patients and viewers tell me
that mania can often be really, really uncomfortable.
Almost like you wanna just crawl out of your skin.
And if we find ourselves having a mixed episode
when we have both mania and depression happening
at the same time,
we can feel really irritable and uncomfortable.
And this can also happen if someone stops us
from doing what we want when we're manic
or sort of gets in the way of us engaging
in our manic behavior.
And I've had this happen in sessions
when I notice a patient is manic and I try to intervene.
They can get really upset and be quick to anger.
So, know that while mania can feel good at times,
that's not always the case.
Just like any mental illness, we have to ask questions
and seek to understand what it's like
for the person in our life who has Bipolar Disorder.
That way, we can better understand them
and their experience. (mellow music)
And finally, I just wanna talk about the comedown.
Often, when people talk about Bipolar Disorder,
they talk about the mania or the depression,
forgetting that there's this time in between.
And following a manic episode,
like I mentioned briefly before,
it's very common for someone to be filled with shame,
embarrassment, and guilt.
So, being a little understanding and compassionate
can go a long way during this timeframe.
I mean, imagine if you didn't feel like yourself,
you weren't able to make thoughtful decisions,
and you felt like you were on top of the world,
only to come down and realize that you did things
you wish you hadn't.
That can be really hard.
And until we find the right medication,
therapy, and get to know our own early signs of mania,
that's really, really helpful by the way,
well, we can have episodes like this every few months or so.
So, if you think that you may have Bipolar 1 Disorder,
just know that you can live a very full and wonderful life.
You just have to find the treatment
that works best for you.
And I hope this information was helpful.
Please let me know if I left anything out
or if you have any other thoughts
that you would like to share.
Share those down in the comments,
and I will see you next time, bye.