Jen asked:


I have been diagnosed with bipolar type I, which I understand has hallucinations and is more extreme than bipolar type II. I know the symptoms that every website lists for bipolar- increased energy, decreased need for sleep, etc…for mania and decreased energy, feelings of hopelessness or guilt, etc…for depression. What I’m looking for is individual experiences with this disorder. For example, I get really involved in things like painting, then feng shui, then collecting several different things, then geneology, then physics, etc… when I’m manic. I switch from one thing into a completely different thing and completely lose interest in the thing before. Does that make sense? I know that each person’s experiences will vary, but I would like to hear about behaviors besides those listed in the typical diagnostic criterea.
These answers are great. I have to laugh because I can relate to so many of you!

Grace

*DixieGirlBryana* asked:


I have been diagnosed with bipolar and whenever people find that out, they ask me if i have bipolar 1 or 2. i don’t know what the difference is so i don’t know how to answer… please help.

Floyd

peterhutch asked:


isorder, earlier known as Manic Depressive Disorder, is a common psychological illness that can disrupt one’s life severely, leading to chaotic behavior and even *******. Affecting nearly one per cent of the population, people suffering from this disease are often highly creative and gifted. They include geniuses like poet Sylvia Plath. While in some cases the disease worsens over time, in others the patient gets well spontaneously.

Millions of people have bipolar disorder. It used to be called manic depression. With bipolar disorder, life can be like an emotional roller coaster. One day your mood is low and you feel sad. Then your mood gets really high and you feel great. Then the sadness comes back. The good news is that there’s help for these extreme mood swings. With proper treatment, people with bipolar disorder can lead normal lives.

Causes of Bipolar Disorder

While the exact cause of bipolar disorder (manic depression) has yet to be determined, there is a great deal of scientific evidence that indicates a chemical imbalance in the brain. As for what causes this imbalance, there are a number of viable theories, which center on a combination of heredity and environmental triggers. Presented here is information relevant to these theories.

There is a significant genetic component to bipolar disorder. If a family member has bipolar disorder, other family members may be at risk. The identical twin of a person with bipolar disorder is at the highest risk for developing the condition. However, stress of some kind often is needed to trigger the onset of the disease. The disease does not occur just because of one gene, and the cause of the disease is likely a combination of multiple genetic and environmental factors.

What are some of the symptoms of bipolar disorder?

At times, a person who has bipolar disorder may feel very happy, full of energy and able to do anything. The person might not even want to rest when he or she feels this way. This feeling is called mania (say: “may-nee-ah”). At other times, a person who has bipolar disorder may feel very sad and depressed. The person may not want to do anything when he or she feels this way. This is called depression. People with bipolar disorder can quickly go from mania to depression and back again.

Treatment of Bipolar Depression

Research has shown that people with bipolar disorder are at risk of switching into mania or hypomania, or of developing rapid cycling, during treatment with antidepressant medication.15 Therefore, “mood-stabilizing” medications generally are required, alone or in combination with antidepressants, to protect people with bipolar disorder from this switch. Lithium and valproate are the most commonly used mood-stabilizing drugs today. However, research studies continue to evaluate the potential mood-stabilizing effects of newer medications.

The majority of people with bipolar disorder can be treated using a combination of approaches. These include:

Medicines to prevent episodes of mania, hypomania and depression; these are known as mood stabilisers and are taken every day, long-term,

Medicines to treat the main symptoms of depression and mania when they occur.



Regina

Abhishek Agarwal asked:


In order to become successful in life, it is quite essential to be healthy and wise. While any sort of physical restrictions of the body can be fought with and dealt with, the central processing unit of our body that is our brain needs to be absolutely perfect in order to live a happy & successful life. For all our errands what we primarily need is a sharp brain so as to understand our environment and act promptly & make well evaluated decisions.

Along with a perfectly working brain, what we need is a control over our emotions. Being over excited or unduly angry all the time would not help us in any way. Quoting in the right terminology all our psychological factors must be balanced enough.

And what if you discover that you yourself have or some of you known to has a brain disorder? One such common brain disorder is bipolar disorder. This disease not only effects our emotions and decisions on daily errands, in extreme cases it can lead to suicides as well.

Here are some facts that you must know about this brain disorder:

1. Bipolar disorder is not just caused by any single factor. Like several fibers come together to intertwine a cloth, varied pressures in our family, social and professional life culminate to such an ailment.

2. The medical experts believe that having a patient of bipolar disorder in the blood relatives does not surely mean that you would have this disorder yet it increases the chances of the same. Similarly, having no history of such disorder in the family does not certify that you won’t have this ailment.

3. All in all fortune is the key to escaping just any ailment or disease.

4. Bipolar disorder can be characterized by the cyclical mood swings that can initiate at any age that is adolescence or the later years of life. Here have also been several cases when the young children have been afflicted by the bipolar disorder.

5. This disorder does not spare just any gander, race, ethnicity or the social class.

6. In order to treat the bipolar disorder the medical experts use an amalgamation of anti-depressants, mood stabilizers, anti-psychotics or anti-manics and psychotherapy.

7. There are some usual biologic similarities in the bipolar disorder patients. These can be proved by the tests & imaging scans. Such patients manifest over production of the stress hormones known as cortisol; hyperactivity over and above the usual behavior that shows up with unusual movements & emotional functions; reduced functioning of brain activities in some regards linked with the cognitive functioning; fast biological clock (that regulates our body’s circadian rhythm – to be precise the cycle of walking & sleep); and severe flooding of calcium in to the brain cells.

While these were some general and basic facts about the bipolar disorder, the experts have defined the basic factors of bipolar disorder as follows:

1. Biochemical or biological

2. Genetic or familial

3. Medication induced

4. Environmental

8. Biochemical or Biological Causes

In terms of the biochemical factors, the experts explain that bipolar disorder occurs in a particular part of the human brain when numerous neurotransmitters (that are some sort of chemical messengers) are malfunctioning. Several neurotransmitters can be involved in the bipolar disorder taking place like dopamine, serotonin, norepinephrine, etc.

In such cases the disorder remains dormant or asleep in our brain for years and can be triggered off by the external factors like crisis or stress. The medical experts have discovered that the brain of the patient suffering with the bipolar disorder is – wired differently – as compared to the normal person. This also explains the maddening alterations of the extreme emotions.

9. Genetic or Familial

In case there is any first-degree blood relative suffering with the bipolar disorder, such individuals can surely be subjected to this disorder. The first degree blood relatives in this case could be siblings, offspring, parents, etc. While this increases the risk only in comparison with those who have one of this sort of familial history, anybody for that matter can be a prey to this disorder. The research scientists are working hard on the look for the specific genes that trigger this disorder.

10. Medication Induced

In case a patient is misdiagnosed and is given the medications that are not able to control the disorder or rather take it on a higher grade, bipolar disorder can be triggered off. At times the physician or the psychiatrist just catch on the depression and are not able to see the other unusual changes in the patients that might be sidetracking them from the original diagnosis. This could lead to certainly wrong medication.

For instance, an anti-depressant medication could activate a manic incident in case of the patients vulnerable to the bipolar disorder. It happens when the manic stage is overlooked owing to misdiagnosis. Actually, the patients of bipolar disorder are given the anti-manic & anti-depressant medications, simultaneously. The anti-manic medications actually produce a shield to protect your patient from mania, stimulated by the prescribed anti-depressants.

Besides the above mentioned drugs, there are several others that trigger bipolar disorder in the individuals. These include cold medications, appetite suppressants, designer drugs (like cocaine, amphetamines, etc.), corticosteroids, and excessive in-take of caffeine. All these land up to mania. The abuse of alcohol & other stimulants also trigger the bipolar disorder.

11. Environmental

This mood disorder can also be triggered off by the modern age stressful life. In our day to day lives where we are concerned with all our personal, social and professional links, such events could be innumerable like career loss, shocking death of the loved one, geographic changes, pregnancy, financial bankruptcies, etc.

Stress leading the bipolar disorder can happen for the people of varied age or condition like old adults, adolescents, pregnant women, etc. In all these ages and conditions, there are huge changes that the individuals face and ones who have a shaky foundation at family front or suffering through the low self esteem, could easily become subject to the crisis.

The experts explain that just one time trigger is enough for the disorder to take place and henceforth, the cycles begin. In case the ailment is not diagnosed early enough, it could be quite hard to control.

However, the individuals who have strong will power, coping capacity and fighting back mechanisms and are little self aware, can face the situation rather effectively.



Fred

sjannettey asked:


I am trying to start a business. I tried to leave some information about my business at the office where I see my psychiatrist. He told me not to leave any information because it is a office of “sick” people. I know for a fact there are many individuals who are Bipolar who hold down professional jobs. Can anyone respond to this?

Ray

Adam asked:


Does a unipolar just have one bump per period and a bipolar has two bumps? What would be the purpose of that?

Laurie

Potato xy asked:


From this I mean not taking any medicines, just be free from it.

I am a teenager who has struggle through bipolar since very young.

Jeanette

Lina Smith asked:


Depression can be incredibly hard to live with; it permeates every part of a person’s life and leaves them feeling very low and unable to cope with day to day life. Most people will have an encounter with depression during their life and most people cope with it and move on without any problems. For people with bipolar depression life can be quite different.

Bipolar depression tends to come in cycles which are mixed with periods when the sufferer feels intense highs. During these highs bipolar depression is forgotten and the person might feel invincible and this can lead to other problems. When someone who is bipolar is in the middle of a bipolar depression period they tend to go into a deep depression, their sleeping patterns can be affected, they may lose their appetite, they lack motivation and their personal relationships can suffer. If the bipolar depression episode is particularly intense they may even contemplate suicide, so it is essential that they learn effective ways that will help them to live with bipolar depression.

Firstly it is important to try to get bipolar depression under control as this will make life slightly easier for the sufferer. This should be done by getting medical advice and treatment to stabilise the moods of the person with bipolar disorder. Medication to control bipolar depression can be prescribed and many people with bipolar disorder find that this is a huge step forward for them. They will still have periods or episodes of bipolar depression but with the correct medication and management these can become less frequent. By lowering the frequency of these periods, a person who has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder can deal better with them.

As well as medication, another good way to learn to live with bipolar depression is by attending cognitive behavioural therapy sessions which can help a person to pinpoint triggers for their depression. When a person is able to pinpoint these triggers they can then either try to avoid these types of situations, or if they are unavoidable, learn strategies to cope and lessen the impact of bipolar depression when it strikes. Obviously, this type of treatment is not suitable for everyone but many people do benefit from it and it is worth taking a look at if you suffer from bipolar depression.

Exercise can also play an important role in living with bipolar depression as it encourages the production and release of endorphins, a natural chemical that the body produces when it is happy. This also occurs when a person exercises – so it is a good idea for those people who suffer from bipolar depression to take regular exercise as it will benefit them.

Some people also advocate alternative treatments such as taking up yoga or meditation as it allows the bipolar depression sufferer to relax and learn further coping mechanisms. Whilst not everyone would agree, those people who do practice yoga or meditation do find that it improves their mood and general wellbeing which is both useful and valuable.



Carla

web_trace asked:


Just out of curiousity, can you have been diagnosed with bipolar and still get a commercial license or a private one if you are not taking any medication whatsoever?

Nancy

Ally asked:


My brother was diagnosed with bipolar disorder over a year ago, and still fails to accept it. He’s been hospitalized twice, and is currently in a hospital. He won’t take his medication, because he does not think he needs it. What can my parents or me do to help him realize that he truly has bipolar?

Danielle