You may fear them making reckless or irresponsible decisions, and harming themselves during an emotional low. Bipolar disorder can be a lifelong struggle. People with bipolar disorder cannot control their emotions or moods. It is a mental illness. Offering practical assistance can reduce their stress level and help keep their emotions under control.
For example, help out around their house or offer to research local support groups for them. Bipolar disorder is a real disease that can have a huge impact on friends and loved ones. Treatment may help control symptoms. These include mood stabilizers, and for some people, antidepressants, anti-anxiety medication, exercise, and nutrition. Some people also benefit from counseling and support groups. Dysphoric mania is another name for bipolar disorder with mixed features. Bipolar disorder, formerly called manic depression, causes extreme mood shifts ranging from mania to depression.
We explain the symptoms, diagnosis…. It turns out that several famous people have bipolar disorder. Are they more creative? We explain the potential link between bipolar disorder and…. PTSD and bipolar disorder have overlapping symptoms, but they're two very different conditions. Here's a closer look at what each involves and whether…. It can feel hard to distinguish between schizoaffective disorder and bipolar disorder, thanks to several overlapping symptoms. But the two have a few…. Siblings separated at birth must feel this way when meeting as adults: seeing part of yourself in someone else.
Use these tips to help choose the right mental health professional for you. Health Conditions Discover Plan Connect. Could It Be Bipolar Disorder?
Medically reviewed by Timothy J. Legg, Ph. Bipolar disorder can be hard to diagnose, but there are signs or symptoms that you can look for. What are the signs of bipolar disorder?
Bipolar disorder types and symptoms. What bipolar disorder feels like. Bipolar diagnosis and treatment. Talk with your doctor. Read this next. How to Deal with the Uncertainty of Bipolar Episodes. We talked to seven of them.
Editors note: Some of the anecdotes below contain details that are graphic or sensitive in nature. I was hypomanic throughout middle school, recklessly using my sexuality to manipulate my guy friends and lacking the empathy to realize that I was hurting them. But I excelled in school, volunteered with multiple organizations, babysat, and played in the school band. I wasn't [necessarily] 'acting out.
By freshman year [of high school], I drank heavily and did every drug I could get my hands on. But as long as I was acing my honors classes, I didn't care. But during the beginning of sophomore year, when I tried [to study] or read something, my mind would cycle through every terrible detail of my life. Without being able to [focus], my academic life was shattered.
Every night I'd scream into my pillow, shaking and crying. My emotions were so uncontrollably heightened that I wanted to die. I kept telling myself it would get better, but this continued for months. I also started taking scissors to my thighs and I would imagine cutting the fat off, even though I was also starving myself. I would feel such overwhelming mental pain that I would cut and scratch my skin to try to somehow numb it.
I also experienced psychosis and paranoia: there were snakes on the walls and people following me. I wouldn't sleep for days in a row. A month before I turned 16, I was diagnosed with bipolar I at an outpatient mental health facility for children and teenagers.
Now, I'm a genuinely happy adult with fantastic friends, a life partner, a home, and a career I'm proud of. I've been clean of drugs of alcohol for about eight years. But I still don't tell people about my past unless they're a close friend.
The media often portrays people who are mentally ill as one-dimensional, low-life characters. But their lives have been shattered in different ways and they're just trying to survive. You shouldn't write them off for making choices you don't understand. My pediatrician referred me to a psychiatrist after she suspected that my ADHD was a misdiagnosis.
Now, my depression is easier to handle than it has ever been, partially because [more people publicly talk about it], so it's easier to find communal support for it. Mania is still hard because the effects are harder to deal with after the fact, like [financial problems from overspending], or hurtful things I say or do to people I care about. I'm terrified of having children, which is also something I really want to do.
I would have to be off my medication at least during pregnancy, if not longer if I breast feed. Beyond actually having a child, raising a child is scary. I would hate for my bipolar to affect my relationship with them negatively. I'm always on the hunt for positive narratives about bipolar parents raising children with healthy relationships, but they can be hard to find. But I think I have a lot of natural empathy for how other people move around in the world because my movements, at times, have been so illogical.
I find myself being able to accept the symptoms of my friends with [mental illness] at face value and I try to support them as much as possible without judgment. I feel like the thing Hollywood gets the most wrong about living with bipolar disorder is that mania is a super power or gift.
I'm thinking about artists that created while manic, or Carrie [Claire Danes's character] on Homeland cracking the case because of wild leaps in logic while manic. The idea that the world deserves the results of mania more than those with bipolar disorder deserve safety in their own minds is really [upsetting]. It drives me crazy, this attitude that mania is a gift that justifies the pain of depression.
I think it is hard for people to understand that my manias are my most destructive times, both in terms of how it affects my life and my relationships.
I would swing from deeply insecure to super confident, and I had thoughts of suicide and worthlessness coupled with bouts of creativity. My symptoms now aren't much different really, but I'm older now so I know how to recognize when I'm having a swing and can attempt to not give into it.
A person with bipolar disorder may be unaware they're in the manic phase. After the episode is over, they may be shocked at their behaviour. But at the time, they may believe other people are being negative or unhelpful. The extreme nature of the condition means staying in a job may be difficult and relationships may become strained.
There's also an increased risk of suicide.
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