Manic

Manic episodes are marked by extreme highs generally or can be periods of irritability. Of course, everyone experiences times when they feel on high or a little cranky but for those struggling with bipolar these episodes will experience these emotions for an extended period of time (at least a week) and it will interfere with occupational or social situations detrimentally.  Manic episodes may be marked by:

* Grandiosity
* Insomnia
* Racing thoughts
* Extreme talking
* Distractible
* Extreme activities- sexual, shopping, thrill seeking or risky behaviour

Depressive

During depressive episodes usually last at least two weeks and are marked by a depressed mood or lack of interest in anything pleasurable. Bipolar depression will be a variance from the person's normal mood and school, work and social interactions will be negatively impacted. Signs of a major depressive episode:

* Hypersomnia – sleeping too much each day
* Insomnia
* Feelings of worthlessness
* Fatigue
* Inappropriate guilt on a daily basis
* Suicidal thoughts
* Weight loss or weight gain without effort (5% or more of total body weight)

Medication

There are several medication options for people struggling with bipolar including lithium a mood stabilizer and lamotrigine for managing depression. Lithium is one of the only drugs that has been shown to reduce suicidal tendencies common during bipolar depression. You should discuss all medications carefully with your physician and make sure you take it as prescribed. This is one very important factor of dealing with bipolar disorder. If you are having trouble with a particular medication – discusses it with your doctor so that you can adjust the dosage or change medications under their supervision.

Therapy

Psychotherapy in conjunction with medication is the most recommended treatment option. Very seldom will medication alone be effective at helping someone struggling with bipolar. The best treatment plan is one that offers you medical and psychiatric care. You will need to learn how to identify when an episode is coming on, deal with the disorder as a whole, regulate your mood more effectively and improve the relationships around you.

Conclusion

Until recently bipolar has carried a stigma. Many people delay treatment because they want to avoid being labeled as crazy, unreliable or even dangerous. New therapies and medications are slowly changing the perception of this disorder. It also helps that well-known faces are coming forward and admitting to struggling with bipolar as well, for instance it was just recently released the famous actress Catherine Zeta Jones is dealing with the disorder. You can live a healthy and relatively normal life in spite of dealing with bipolar depression and manic episodes. Work closely with your medical team and make informed decisions about your treatment plan.

What Causes Bipolar?

To date no one has been able to pinpoint the real cause of this mental disorder, bipolar. While studies have been made on the subject, two things mental health professionals are sure about – there is a brain imbalance and an environmental factor to this mental illness.

Mania Symptoms

People with mania have unusual increase in energy level and symptoms are:
• Little need for sleep.
• Talkative with lots going on in the mind.
• Hard to pay attention and easily distracted.
• Bad sense of judgment, going on spending sprees even borrowing large sums of cash.
• Substance abuse -alcohol, depressants, illicit drugs, sleeping pills.
• Aggressive, intolerant and intrusive behaviors which can be out of control.
• Delusional and high thinking of oneself.
• Unusually high sexual libido.

Hypomania Episode

Hypomania episode is not in itself a disorder, but a category or part of bipolar disorder. Its main recognized signs are very high/raised, extensive and also annoying temperament which can last days and nights which are distinct from the normal dispositions. Possible symptoms include:
• Inflated self-worth and high thinking of oneself.
• Little need for sleep.
• Very talkative and easily distracted.
• Full of great ideas, with so many crazy ideas.
• Abuse of alcohol, depressants, illicit drugs or sleeping pills.
• Loves pleasurable activities like buying for the sake of buying, socializing, sexual activities or getting into stupid business dealings.

People with hypomania are not serious enough to cause significant hurt in their social or work to require them going to hospital. One of the real problems with these people is they often take illicit drugs for self medication. While prescribed drugs can cause side effects, drugs that are not prescribed by medical authorities can do irreversible damage. Those who go through hippomanic episode are often clinically diagnosed with a type of bipolar disorder.

Difficulty of Bipolar Diagnosis

Even for health professionals, trying to diagnose bipolar is not an easy task, because other mental health issues can also be present. The inconsistency of the illness among patients is another depressing problem; because some patients may go through a little mania/depression others experience mostly manic or depressive mood behaviors.

Early Treatment

Bipolar, if left neglected for too long, tend to deteriorate and become severe mania or depressive symptoms. So anybody going through any symptoms mentioned above should consult their family doctor. We must always remember that early treatment is important about this mental illness.

History

Bipolar disorder was actually conceptualized by Emil Kraeplin. As early as 200 A.D., mood problems and manic depression symptoms have been referenced in history. This health problem was suspected to be caused by bad blood called black bile. 100 years ago, the disease was described as manic-depressive insanity. Finally, by 19th century, terms like biphasic illness, dual-form insanity and circular insanity was used to refer to the illness.

Many of our historical figures as well as current personalities have suffered this condition. Hence, their accomplishments in successfully managing and overcoming the disease should inspire the current sufferers of bipolar disorder to fight and rule out the disease.

Common Manic Depression Symptoms

The most obvious red flag of bipolar disorder is the dramatic and often unpredictable mood swings. It is characterized by extreme mood shifts, which are exhibited by mania and depression symptoms. Manic depression symptoms include excitement, excessive happiness, restlessness, racing thoughts, increased energy, high sex drive and unusual tendency to make grand yet unattainable plans. Manic depression symptoms include anxiety, sadness, irritability, uncontrollable crying, increased need for sleep, loss of energy, difficulty making decisions and increased risk of suicide or death. Usually, the bipolar symptoms experienced by a patient vary depending on his type of bipolar disorder.

The types of Bipolar disorder vary depending on the degree of episodes of mania or depression experienced by the patient. A bipolar I patient may experience at least one manic episode in his life, but is accompanied with abnormal behaviors that disrupt his/her daily life. A bipolar II patient experiences mood cycling between high (mania) and low (depression); however, his "up" moods never reach full-on mania. A rapid cycling bipolar type patient is one who experiences four or more episodes of mania or depression in a year. Mixed bipolar patients experience moods alternating between elevated and depressed over a period of time. In some cases, the patient may even experience both mania and manic depression symptoms simultaneously or experience both types of bipolar disorder symptom in rapid sequence.

Diagnosis

In truth, there is no one test that can indicate bipolar disorder. Patients are usually diagnosed based on their comprehensive medical, family and mental health information. To qualify for diagnosis, the patient must experience at least one manic episode of bipolar disorder symptom during his lifetime or that the patient must have experienced symptoms of mania that lasted at least a week unless it is a mixed episode. Aside from your family doctor, consulting other health practitioners like mental health specialists, psychologists, psychiatrists and mental health counselors is helpful in educating you more about the disease.

Bipolar Disorder Symptoms

Bipolar disorder is a condition that involves dealing with two completely different spheres of mood disorder. The first is the "up" phase known as mania and the other sphere is the "down" phase known as depression. Some have an extremely inaccurate understanding of these symptoms as they assume mania is a positive symptom that counterbalances the negatives of depression. This is not the case as mania can prove to be extremely dangerous.

Bipolar Mania

Mania can include symptoms such as racing thoughts, excessive energy, irritability, insomnia, delusions, and even hallucinations. These are certainly harmful symptoms since they can impair judgment and cloud cognitive thinking. Mania also contributes to attention deficit issues since the ability to concentrate is clouded by such seemingly irrational thinking.

The depression based symptoms of bipolar disorder can be somewhat jarring since they can have a seriously negative impact on a person's mental state. A severe sense of sadness, despair, anxiety, hopelessness, and extreme loss of energy are all common forms of depressive symptoms. At their worst, such a state of mind can lead to thoughts of suicide.

More Symptoms

Bipolar disorder symptoms do not appear in a 50-50 manner. In other words, you do not alternative equally between mania and depression. The swings could involve being manic 75% of the time and depressed 25%. Really, there is no standardization in regards to how the condition manifests. Regardless of how they do, the fact remains they do definitely have a serious impact on a person's mental state.

The presence of bipolar symptoms should lead someone to seeking an evaluation from a qualified mental health professional. Generally, a board certified psychiatrist would be the best professional to speak with. Based on a proper evaluation, the steps to finding a proper treatment method can be undertaken. With the proper treatment, the impact of the bipolar symptoms can be diminished to the point they do not affect the person's life in too severe of a manner.

Various Treatments

The treatments employed to deal with bipolar disorder can vary. Often, prescription medication is employed to deal with the condition. Counseling and therapy is employed as well and can often lead to good results. Cognitive behavioral therapy is also used and can reverse a number of problems in the onset of the condition.

Those wishing to learn more about the condition of bipolar disorder should explore the various resources available.

Characteristics of Manic Depression Disorder Symptoms:

For families looking for relevant information on the different manic depression symptoms, it can depend on the severity of the manic depression disorder symptoms and what seems to trigger the symptoms. Bipolar is characterized by mood swings that can change rapidly, but some of the more severe cases can be marked by several days of deep depression where a person is unable to function or get out of bed followed by a period of euphoric emotions and high energy.

In children, adolescents and adults manic depression disorder symptoms can cause irritability, suicidal thoughts over little mishaps. Depending on the severity of the chemical imbalance, mood swings can be extreme, causing the child to act crazily with anti-social behaviors. Typically, children will have signs of hyperactivity during manic phases and display signs of rage, temper tantrums, fidgety, impulsive and aggressive behaviors during the depression stages.

Early Warning Signs of Manic Depression Disorder Symptoms in Children:

Children are more active than adults, so racing thoughts, impulsive behavior, rapid speech, suicidal talk or thoughts and excessive aggressiveness or violence should be addressed immediately in children. These behaviors can lead to more severe symptoms later if the symptoms are not controlled early enough. Treating bipolar disorder or manic depression in children can help them lead a productive life by treating manic depression disorder symptoms early. Treatments such as healthy diet, daily exercises, natural remedies and behavior modifications, can also be taken up.

Treating Manic Depression Disorder Symptoms:

Treating bipolar disorder can involve medication to change the serotonin levels, with anti-anxiety medications and therapies to prevent the chemical imbalance in the brain from occurring.

There are several methods for treating manic depression disorder or manic depression. Because the body and the nervous system have their own defense systems, the hormone release or lack of release of the hormone, serotonin, has been found to be closely linked to the disorder. Treating bipolar disorder or manic depression disorder symptoms means keeping the chemical balance in check. This can be done either through medication, relaxation therapies, behavior modification or natural remedies and ingredients that are healthy and more resilient against stress. There is no need to doom children to a lifelong fate of prescription medication, if you heed the early warning signs and symptoms.

Manic depression symptoms or bipolar disorder, is  also identified as manic-depressive illness. It is a mental disorder that can cause unusual and extreme  shifts in temper, energy, activity levels, and the capacity to carry out day-to-day everyday jobs. Symptoms of manic depression symptoms can be quite severe to mild. These symptoms are very dissimilar from the usual ups and downs that everybody goes throughout their  life time. Bipolar disorder symptoms can result in damaged relationships, poor job or school performance, and even suicide. Manic depression symptoms can be treated and has been treated successfully with the use of bipolar medication.

Manic depression symptoms may in some people  mature in their late teens or early adult years. There has been cases where young children age 2 who have been known to be showing symptoms of the illness. There is no definite age for anybody to have this mental disease, a number of people have their first symptoms during their childhood, while others develop symptoms later in life.

Mania Symptoms

Mania Symptoms may comprise extreme joy, enthusiasm, touchiness, agitation with  high energy levels with  less want for sleep. Patients with mania also experience, racing thoughts, unusual high sexual drive, and are inclined to make imposing and impossible plans.

Those with depression can  go through grief, worry, touchiness, loss of energy, out of control – crying,  appetite change which may cause loss or gain of weight. This is a low energy period with  greater than before need for sleep, trouble making decisions, and thoughts of death or suicide constantly in their minds.

What Causes Bipolar?

We all wish we can confidently point to the real cause of manic depression symptoms. To this day no one really knows what causes bipolar disorder. There are few things we can at least consider when answering this question.

1.Genetic Factors

Can bipolar disorder be inherited? Through recent studies it has been noticed that parents who are bipolar are more likely to have their children possess this mental illness compared to those whose parents are healthy to pass  on the illness.

2.What exactly is inherited?

The neurotransmitter in the brain has received a great deal of consideration as the likely source of bipolar disorder. How do they know? Because medications which change these transmitters also ease mood disorders.

3. Stress Triggers

Those dealing with emotional and environmental issues, believe that traumatic life events are considered to be the main element in the development of manic depression symptoms. We cannot precisely define, because  one person's pressure may be another person's positive challenge.

4. Diathesis-Stress Model

" This word diathesis means,  “a physical condition that make a person more than usually susceptible to certain diseases”. So each person take over certain bodily vulnerabilities to harms that may or may not become visible depending on what stresses happen in their life.

Diagnosis

Manic depression symptoms is a hard illness to identify. There are a number of physical situation that can imitate the appearance of or have like symptoms to the manic depression symptoms. It is always the advice that whenever you notice unusual behaviors in you child or your friends to seek medical help. Early diagnosis can result in early bipolar treatment which is vitally important for the control of manic depression symptoms.

The mental illness – Bipolar is always known by the name manic depressive illness, manic depression, mania and depression symptoms etc. The name bipolar mood disorder is a new name added to the list already under bipolar. Bipolar mood disorder is the new name better describing the two severe mood swings – of depression and mania.

Those with bipolar mood disorder go through recurrent moods of depression and elevated moods. Both these two moods can be just mild to quite extreme. There are two terms mostly used -'mania' and ‘depression’, to describe the most extreme state of happiness and over activity “mania” and the lows with less or no activities depression. Many people may go through bipolar disorder with only the mania episodes and no depression. It can also be true the other way around.

What Causes Bipolar Mood Disorder?

No one really knows what causes bipolar mood disorder but, it is believed that this mental illness is caused by a few factors combined, these includes- stress, genes, biochemistry and even the different seasons.

Genetic factors

Recent studies on close relatives have identified that children whose parents or members of the family having bipolar are likely to have this mental illness. In other words children of parents with bipolar have a greater risk of taking on the disorder.

The Biochemical factors

It is widely known and believed bipolar mood disorder are linked to a chemical imbalance in the brain which can be controlled by the use of bipolar medication.

Stress

A lot of people have suggested that stress can play a part in stimulating bipolar symptoms, but that may not always be the case. One thing is certain – this mental illness itself causes stressful events (such as divorce or a failed business), which a lot of people blame it on the illness.

Seasons

While we do not know why Mania mostly happens in spring, and depression during winter – it is believed that it may be due to the temperature.

Symptoms of Bipolar Mood Disorder


Mania Symptoms – Elevated mood
• Feeling very, very good with oneself and being invincible.
• Lots of energy with reduced need for sleep.
• Very irritable if people disagree with their unrealistic ideas or plans for example.
• Racing thoughts – their mind are so full of ideas to the point of busting out.
• Spending large sums of money and very high sex libidos.
• Very strong belief that they are talented or gifted. The can even act as if they are a king or a famous film star.
• They can be reckless – they will be angry if someone tells them that.

Depression Symptoms

• Loses interest and pleasure in activities enjoyed before.
• May withdraw and stop seeing friends.
• Avoid social activities.
• Stop doing simple tasks such as shopping and washing.
• Can be overwhelmed by deep sadness.
• Lose their appetite, eventually losing weight.
• Difficulty concentrating.
• Strong feelings of guilt, hopelessness and helplessness.
• Attempt suicide or committing suicide.
• False beliefs (delusions) of persecution or guilt and feel they are evil.

Bipolar Treatment

With the right diagnosis and medication people can live normal lives and manage their household and business commitments. Anyone with symptoms mentioned above must sought medical advice. The golden rule says “early is better than late”.

Unipolar Disorder

This depressive mood disorders can be divided into bipolar and unipolar. Bipolar is usually marked by bipolar manic symptoms or the presence of both mania and depression episodes. Whereas, unipolar is characterized by depression only and its symptoms may include:

 Very dull, no energy, lazy and apathetic.

 Difficulty in sleeping, waking early and tired even after a long nights sleep.

 Always on their nerves.

 Feelings of utter despair, useless or hopeless of everything.

 Strong feelings of irritability and being always tired.

These disturbance is not caused by a direct physiological effects of illicit drugs abuse or of medication or a medical condition.

Bipolar Manic Depression

Bipolar depression is characterized by a disturbance in mood with varying degrees of:

 Long sadness and unexplained crying moments.

 Appetite and sleeping patterns significantly changes.

 Angry, worried, agitated, anxious and irritable.

 Indifference and pessimistic.

 No energy and always lethargic .

 Feelings of worthlessness and guilt.

 Unable to concentrate and indecisive.

 Unable to have pleasure in former hobbies.

 Being with other people becomes a headache.

 Physical pain and body pains hard to explain.

 Always thinking of death and suicide

These bipolar depressive feelings can be quite severe and may stay with the person for a long time. Daily chores can become very difficult, but mostly of the time patients may still be able to cope. For many bipolar individuals negative feelings of hopelessness can become very strong.

Bipolar Manic

The two characters of the disorder has given it the name bipolar disorder. This bipolar manic phase is marked by an abnormal severe irritable mood and lots of energy. Some other symptoms are grandiosity, unable to sleep, extravagance spending, and irrational judgment. Some patients may suffer long periods of bipolar, but bipolar manic-depressive illness is the highest suicide rate of any mental health disorder accounted for.

Bipolar Treatment – Anti-Psychotic Medication

The Two main bipolar mania symptoms are psychotic thoughts and behaviors, which comes with emotional responses, judgment errors and hard to communicate. To hold in check these thoughts and behaviors before it becomes uncontrollable, most doctors would prescribe bipolar treatment such as mood stabilizing medicines like Clorazil, Risperdal and Zyprexa. Some of these anti-psychotic medications help to control the opposite side of the bipolar depression.

Therapy – Family

Effective for bipolar patients – family focused therapy can help bipolar manic patients. Bipolar manic victims can cause a lot of problems in relationships among family members. With this type of therapy, all members of the family can give something to help control the patient’s behaviors by helping cutting down stimulus and boundaries. The main aim of this therapy is to help everyone notice the signs and learn how to better handle the symptom when it arrives.

Bipolar disorder symptoms which are psychotic can be present in bipolar one. It must be noted that when psychosis symptoms are present, it automatically rules out bipolar II disorder. But before we dwell into the finer detail of Psychotic symptoms, I think that it is important to define what psychosis is. It is the loss of contact with the truth, which includes delusions and hallucinations.

Psychosis

The symptoms of psychosis is mostly associated with bipolar mania, bipolar 1, schizoaffective and schizophrenia disorders. There are other conditions where this psychosis symptoms can be present and this includes  dementia, postpartum psychosis,  Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis and depressive episodes. While this has not been proven, it is believed that the use of certain illicit drugs, like methamphetamine, can bring about a psychotic episode.

Hallucinations

Many people associate hallucinations (hearing inner voices or sounds that are not real) with schizophrenia. While visual hallucinations is quite a common type, it is usually not associated with bipolar. Hallucinations can be experienced by individuals with bipolar disorder symptoms especially when in a depressive or mania episode.

Delusions – pronounced = de-LOO-zhuns

When people are deluded because of bipolar they are simply believing in something that is in fact not true. Some types of delusions and their information may include:

·     Delusions of grandeur – believing that they are both famous and quite important and that they are a god.

·     Delusional jealousy – this jealousy arises in the belief that their partner are not faithful when in fact it is not the truth.

·     Paranoid or persecutory delusions – it is the belief that someone is following, spying and secretly listened to you.

·     Delusions of reference – Strongly thinking that proceeding events have a special meaning only for you.

·     Other "unusual" delusions – believing they are a lion, your partner is an cat, or that big giant worms make big tunnels for trains to go through.

·     Delusions are just one aspect of the psychotic features of bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder. Also included are some other psychiatric and medical conditions.

The Link Between Bipolar and Psychosis

Usually the same psychotic symptoms that appears in bipolar I disorder can be found in schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorders.  It has been observed that physical illnesses that can imitate bipolar disorder symptoms do cause psychosis.

Catatonia

While catatonia is firstly a schizophrenia symptom of schizoaffective disorder, it can be noticed although rarely as a psychotic symptom of bipolar disorder symptom. A lot of people think of catatonia as catatonic stupor, where victims sits absolutely motionless and doesn't respond to anybody and anything. There are many symptoms and different forms of catatonia, which we will not try to go into detail.

Seek Help

If anyone you know is showing psychosis symptoms mentioned above, please do not hesitate to ask for help because it may be a mental health problem related to or not related to bipolar disorder symptoms. The very fact that the person is showing psychosis symptoms is good enough reason for us to do something fast because it is serious.

This depressive disorder has been known to be with us since man started recording history. We read in the Old Testament, Job as well as the famous King David, suffered from this terrible illness. Hippocrates the Greek physician called depression, a black bile (melancholia). A clinical depression is a serious medical disorder that is negative in nature which affects how we feel, think and act. It has been written in literature arts for many, many years, but what does it mean when we refer to this mental illness – depressive disorder or a bipolar depression disorder? In the last century, depression was portrayed as a weakness of temperament which was inherited. Only in the beginning of the 20th century did Freud link the progress of depression to guilt with conflict.

The Two Divisions of Depression

During the middle of this century depression was divided into two:

• Endogenous: depression is a problem coming from within the body and probably linked to a genetic origin. It may also be caused by the body itself but nobody knows its source. Bipolar depression falls under this category.

• Neurotic or reactive: depression is caused from outside, like the death of a loved one, losing somebody special and the loss of the only source of income. In 70s and the 80s, the focus changed from “the cause”, to the “effects” of depression on victims.

In Agreement

We may never know what causes depression or bipolar depression, but most would agree that:

• It is a syndrome that reflects severe sad, irritable mood which can be classed as abnormal sadness or grief. These feelings of sadness of depression  are both intense and takes a long time when compared to the normal ups and downs.

•The  characteristics are the presence of negative thoughts, moods, and behaviors and not to mention the physical symptoms like, crying spells, aches in the body, very low energy in both work and sex. Other problems may include eating, weight  and sleeping problems.

• Depression increases the risks for coronary artery disease, HIV, asthma, and some other medical diseases. It can also increase the mortality rate  of victims with this depressive conditions.

• The huge financial and human costs of depression in the United States alone are huge and this includes -  treatment costs, other indirect costs, like lost in productivity and absenteeism of workers.

Bipolar Depression

The unique trait of this illness is, it's not the outside that is causing the depression, but the brain producing its lows with the feelings of worry, sad, angry, guilt, isolation and hopelessness. This disorder is caused by the brain’s neurotransmitters which can cause sleeping and eating problems and a shift in moods.

Problems with Not Treating

Like most serious diseases, bipolar depression can create problems with those living together, members of the family, close friends, and your boss at work. With family members of those with bipolar depression it can drain out the energy level of family members.

Bipolar Treatment Depression

Bipolar depression can be inherited within families and if you find that a member of your family or a friend are showing symptoms of bipolar depression like sleeping too much, sad, feelings of helpless, worthless, hopeless with decreased energy and concentration, please seek medical advice near you so they can be given bipolar treatment early.