Bipolar Mood Disorder | #MindMonsters

bipolar

bʌɪˈpəʊlə

1.(of psychiatric illness) characterized by both manic and depressive episodes, or manic ones only.

being bipolar is probably one of the hardest. you switch from happy to sad to happy to sad and the cycle repeats over and over and over again. you have no idea which is your actual personality. whether your this wild, impulsive energetic person or whether your this shy, suicidal and tired one. truth is, a person with bipolar is both. and by both it is both of the extreme sides of it. its no inbetween or average. its either highest of the highs or the lowest of the lows.

its pretty hard having that kind of an unstable mind. you love a person one moment and the next you hate them. you feel like you can conquer the world and three minutes later you dont even have enough energy to go wash yourself. sometimes you have to dig deep within yourself to find out what you actually feel. yes, it is that hard with a bipolar mind, it isnt just unable to take proper decisions or do proper tasks it is also something to do with your way of life.

your just stuckat a crossroad and sometimes you go down the depressive path and sometimes you go down the manic path. you see there are two sides to this illness, hence why it is called bipolar. one is called the depressive phase and the other is called the manic phase.

a person in the depressive phase may feel like

• Feel very sad, down, empty, or hopeless
• Have very little energy
• Have decreased activity levels
• Have trouble sleeping, they may sleep too little or too much
• Feel like they can’t enjoy anything
• Feel worried and empty
• Have trouble concentrating
• Forget things a lot
• Eat too much or too little
• Feel tired or “slowed down”
• Think about death or suicide

and a person in the manic phase may feel like

• Feel very “up,” “high,” or elated
• Have a lot of energy
• Have increased activity levels
• Feel “jumpy” or “wired”
• Have trouble sleeping
• Become more active than usual
• Talk really fast about a lot of different things
• Be agitated, irritable, or “touchy”
• Feel like their thoughts are going very fast
• Think they can do a lot of things at once
• Do risky things, like spend a lot of money or jump off a cliff and feel like they are flying.

the above mentioned phases/episodes may last for an hour, a day, a week or even go on for months. as far as i know and according to the books i have read there are three types of bipolar illness.

• Bipolar I Disorder— defined by manic episodes that last at least 7 days, or by manic symptoms that are so severe that the person needs immediate hospital care. Usually, depressive episodes occur as well, typically lasting at least 2 weeks. Episodes of depression with mixed features (having depression and manic symptoms at the same time) are also possible.

• Bipolar II Disorder— defined by a pattern of depressive episodes and hypomanic episodes, but not the full-blown manic episodes described above.

• Cyclothymic Disorder (also called cyclothymia)— defined by numerous periods of hypomanic symptoms as well numerous periods of depressive symptoms lasting for at least 2 years (1 year in children and adolescents). However, the symptoms do not meet the diagnostic requirements for a hypomanic episode and a depressive episode.

however i dont belive in catergorizing this illness because different people feel differently and dont have the same minds. also you shouldnt confuse mood swings with bipolar disorder. tons of people say that they are bipolar when they are just experiencing mood swings. i hate it when people say that you know. they act like its just some cool thing to have but its not! bipolar and all the other mental illnesses are not cool or awesome. they are real illnesses. i mean you arent going to say that its cool to be diabetic or that its cool to have cancer, right? so keep that in mind next time you speak about that.

so far the treatment for bipolar is antidepressants and mood stabilizers, they are mostly pills. i think there is also therapy for this but am not sure how far it goes. of course you cannot completely get rid of it but there is hope. with help from family and friends the person can try to control their mood swings.

Take care,

=)♥sammy