When you become depressed, you may feel sad or hopeless and lose interest in most activities. When you're mood shifts to mania or hypomania (less extreme than mania), you may feel euphoric, full of energy, or unusually irritable. These mood swings can affect energy, sleep, activity, judgment, behaviour, and the ability to think clearly. This is called Bipolar Disorder.
What Is Bipolar Disorder?
Bipolar Disorder (formerly called Manic Depression), is a mental health condition that causes extreme mood swings that include emotional highs (mania or hypomania) and lows (depression).
Episodes of mood swings may occur rarely or multiple times a year. While most people will experience some emotional symptoms between episodes, some may not experience any.
What Are The Symptoms?
There are several types of bipolar and related disorders. They may include mania or hypomania and depression. Symptoms can cause unpredictable changes in mood and behaviour, resulting in significant distress and difficulty in life.
Symptoms for Bipolar I Disorder may include:
- Had at least one manic episode that may be preceded or followed by hypomanic or major depressive episodes.
- Mani triggers a break from the reality (psychosis).
Symptoms for Bipolar II Disorder may include:
- Had at least one major depressive episode.
- Had at least one hypomanic episode.
Bipolar II Disorder is not a milder form of Bipolar I Disorder, but a separate diagnosis. While the manic episodes of Bipolar I Disorder can be severe and dangerous, individuals with Bipolar II Disorder can be depressed for longer periods, which can cause significant impairment.
Symptoms for Cyclothymic Disorder may include:
- Had at least two years - or one year in children and teenagers - of many periods of hypomania symptoms and periods of depressive symptoms (though less severe than major depression).
Although Bipolar Disorder can occur st any age, typically it's diagnosed in the teenage years or early 20s. Symptoms can vary from person to person, and symptoms may vary over time.
What Is The Difference Between Mania and Hypomania and What Are The Symptoms?
Mania and hypomania are two distinct types of episodes, but they have the same symptoms. Mania is more severe than hypomania and causes more noticeable problems at work, school and social activities, as well as relationship difficulties. Mania may also trigger a break from reality (psychosis) and require hospitalization.
Both a manic and a hypomanic episode may include three or more of these symptoms:
- Abnormally upbeat, jumpy, or wired
- Increased activity, energy, or agitation
- Exaggerated sense of well-being and self-confidence (euphoria)
- Decreased need for sleep
- Unusual talkativeness
- Racing thoughts
- Distractsbility
- Poor decision-making - for example, going on buying sprees, taking sexual risks, or making foolish investments
Symptoms For Major Depressive Episode(s):
A major depressive episode includes symptoms that are severe enough to cause noticeable difficulty in day-to-day activities. An episode includes includes five or more of these symptoms:
- Depressed mood, such as feeling sad, empty, hopeless, or tearful (in children and teens, depressed mood can appear as irritability)
- Marked loss of interest or feeling no pleasure in all - or almost all - activities
- Significant weight loss when not dieting, weight gain, or decrease or increase of appetite (in children, failure to gain weight as expected can be a sign of depression)
- Either insomnia or sleeping too much
- Either restlessness or slow behaviour
- Fatigue or loss of energy
- Feelings of worthlessness or excessive or inappropriate guilt
- Decreased ability to think or concentrate, or indecisiveness
- Thinking about, planning or attempting suicide
What Are The Causes?
The exact cause of bipolar disorder is unknown, but several factors may be involved, such as:
- Biological Differences. People with bipolar disorder appear to have physical changes in their brains. The significance of these changes is still uncertain but may eventually help pinpoint causes
- Genetics. Bipolar disorder is more common in people who have a first-degree relative, such as a sibling or parent, with the condition. Researchers are trying to find genes that may be involved in causing bipolar disorder.
