What is Bipolar Disorder?
Bipolar Disorder is a medical condition wherein a patient feels extremely happy or very sad about the instances happening in life. It can make a person go crazy in their energy levels. It has either episode of mood swings or it can be a sudden bad feeling.
It is a serious medical illness in which a person feels uncontrolled by his actions. He basically feels he is good for nothing and also develops low self-esteem.
Bipolar disorder can majorly affect your day-to-day activities, behavioral patterns, your way of thinking, your energy levels, mood, and ability to focus on something. An individual can also feel irritable, hopeless, guilty, and extreme sadness for no reason. If not treated with proper care and time it can lead to suicidal thoughts too.
Bipolar Disorder is further divided into 3 types:
- Bipolar I
- Bipolar II
- Cyclothymic Disorder(Cyclothymia)
All the above three types have episodes of ‘Mania, Depression, or both’.
People undergoing Manic symptoms:
Most commonly they can cause several changes in an individual, a person can start feeling that he needs ‘no sleep ‘to function properly for the next day, and he can conduct his daily activities properly without creating any blunders.
There have been cases where the person has not slept properly for a week and they don’t feel anything abnormal about it. Scientifically our body needs rest to retain energy for the next day and our mind to start fresh with a new morning.
Moreover, the patient may also feel too ‘distracted and irritated‘ about very small things. They can create a fuss about every situation that they might be facing in day-to-day activity.
If things don’t go according to their plans, they might become aggressive and angry. As a result, they lose focus and concentration when trying to achieve their goals. It also creates a sense of impatience in them.
On the other hand, an individual becomes ‘very talkative’ and tends to suggest many ‘flight of ideas’. In this manic phase, he keeps talking and letting out his thoughts without listening to another person. They can also come up with random business ideas that are practically impossible such as starting a rally campaign to be Prime Minister of that country, feeling that God is communicating with them directly, etc.
Also lastly they become ‘high on energy’ and they feel very active and loud all throughout the day. They feel a sense of confidence that will be able to do back-to-back work without being tired and will still not feel any loss of energy. It’s just like people drinking a Dark Black coffee before a Gym workout with the intention to do sweaty and rigorous exercise.
People undergoing Depressive Symptoms:
People with depressive symptoms can feel extremely sad, guilty, and hopeless, have extreme mood swings, and lack energy. Being sad is a part of life but being too much low about something that has happened in the past is also one of its symptoms.
Guilty and hopelessness come hand in hand as they both make you feel miserable for not being able to change something. They make you very irritable and make you lose interest in everything.
Mood swings can be either happy or sad without having any neutral side to any situation. It’s always an extreme emotion that makes you noticeable by the crowd-be it a happy moment or the saddest of an emotion.
Lack of Energy can happen due to lot many negative thoughts running in and out of your life and you feel very much drained out as your mind is continuously stuck on some thought. Basically, all depressive symptoms negatively impact a person’s behavior and thinking.
Bipolar I or II disorder can repeat itself because of 3 expressions:
- Impulsiveness
- Distractibility
- Grandiosity
Impulsiveness
In this expression, a person can land up doing something he never thought of. He has the courage of doing something extreme even after knowing the hazardous consequences of that same situation.
In this scenario, a person doesn’t fear anything before taking some steps. He feels nothing in this world can stop him from achieving that.
Basically, he is known as the ‘troublemaker’ of the house who constantly lands up in bizarre situations every time.
For example, a person can leave his house without informing anyone and will not return back for weeks and months. This situation explains that they reach a stage wherein they cannot feel the emotions of others.
Distractibility
During Bipolar disorder it becomes very difficult for a person to stay still in one place. They keep on wandering from one place to another to get rid of their negative thoughts . They usually find it hard on concentrating over a particular thing . They usually tend to leave their tasks incomplete due to their distracted behavior.
They also become too much moody and irritable because of this habit of theirs.
Grandiosity
People who believe in thoughts that cannot be real or possible are the ones who are undergoing grandiosity.
This can include situations like a person feeling he is the savior of this entire universe, can dictate to the whole world that he is going to be the superstar of Hollywood, or even if he starts feeling like he has the power to end this world.
So people in Grandiosity start feeling very supreme of themselves and they also create a globe in their own head that they can directly communicate with God.
Bipolar I Disorder
Bipolar I disorder usually starts from the age group of 18 years and can last for a lifetime with controlled symptoms. In this disorder, a person can feel ‘manic ‘episodes for a period of seven days or more.
Like a person undergoing any of these three symptoms (impulsive, distraction, grandiosity) over a span of ‘7 days’.
This disorder can be fatal and would need urgent hospitalization. It’s not necessary for a person to experience just manic episodes, but a person can also feel extremely depressive along with. On the other, some may just feel manic situations without any depression.
Bipolar II Disorder
In this disorder, a person may feel continuous episodes of both Hypomania and Major Depression. Hypomania is just like mania but a less severe version. Hypomania can last for at least ‘4 days’ with any of the three symptoms (impulsive, distraction, grandiosity).In this, you do not require urgent hospitalization as they can be cured by medications.
‘Cure your Mental Health from its root cause, and don’t suffer more’.
Cyclothymic Disorder(Cyclothymia)
This disorder usually develops at the age of six years and then eventually turns into either Bipolar I or II disorder. This is a mental condition in which a child appears to be normal but physically doesn’t understand about something is going wrong with him at such a small age.
It is a worse illness where a child behaving abnormally not irritates parents but somewhere over time it gradually going to develop a lifetime disorder. These patients will experience hypomania or depression but not at a level of Bipolar I and II disorder.
The scientific reason for Bipolar Disorder is not yet found. But several reasons like brain structure, environmental conditions, or Genetics can result in Bipolarity.
Many other factors can also become added to this illness like eating disorders, anxiety disorders, substance abuse, and psychotic disorder.
‘Before crashing like a wave, make an attempt to be stable’
