What Are the Symptoms of Bipolar Disorder?

From historical figures to celebrities to everyday people, there are many people with bipolar disorder. Whether one hears of these people on television or in real life, the question often arises as to how they know they have bipolar disorder. So, what are the symptoms of bipolar disorder?

Since there are two distinct parts of bipolar disorder, there are also two separate sets of symptoms of bipolar disorder. These symptoms of bipolar disorder many times reflect opposites from the manic to the depressive sides of the illness.

The most obvious of the opposites in the symptoms of bipolar disorder is level of energy and activity. In depression, the person will feel a loss of energy and suffer from fatigue. That person may even appear to be slow. On the other hand, the manic person will have an increased level of energy and much more than usual activity.

Degree of self-esteem is another of the symptoms of bipolar disorder. A depressed person feels unworthy or is guilt-ridden. A manic, though, is so full of him- or herself that he or she has unreasonable ideas of him- or herself or even delusions of grandeur.

This loss of self-esteem may be what leads the depressed person to be indecisive, and overblown self importance that urges the manic to become reckless. Neither the depressed person nor the manic one sees these decision-making processes as symptoms of bipolar disorder. But that is exactly what they are.

The symptoms of bipolar disorder differ from the depressive to the manic mostly because the general themes are different. In depression, everything is slow, dull, small, introverted, and hopeless. In mania, things are overblown, huge, fast, outgoing, and full of impossible dreams.

Some symptoms of bipolar disorder seem, on the surface, to be similar. For example, The poor concentration of the depressed person may appear similar to the distraction of the manic person. They both, in fact, have trouble holding a thought in their heads. This happens for different reasons, though. The depressed person has fewer thoughts but just cannot focus on any, while the manic person has excessive thought and goes rapidly from one to the next.

Sleep cycles vary in both depressed people and manic people. This is one of the symptoms of bipolar disorder which cause trouble for both. The depressed person may not care whether he or she sleeps or not, sometimes sleeping for long periods and sometimes not bothering to go to bed. The manic person will most surely feel little or no need for sleep. He or she may go without sleep for days.

The symptoms of bipolar disorder which vary the most from depressives to manics happen at the far ends of the spectrum. A person who is extremely depressed is likely to think dark thoughts about death, suicide, and even plans to commit suicide. The person who is manic enough can have strange thoughts such as delusions, and bizarre perceptions such as auditory and visual hallucinations.

If a person is truly bipolar, he or she will display some, if not all, of the symptoms of bipolar disorder on both the depressed and manic sides of the line. Because this illness is so serious and can have life changing consequences for the person with it, it is important to recognize the symptoms of bipolar disorder.

CBT as Treatment for Bipolar Disorder

Bipolar disorder, known by many as manic depression, is a mental illness caused by a combination of factors, including neurological, biological, emotional, and environmental factors. It is most commonly described as mood cycling or mood swings, in which the patient cycles through moods of depression, mania, and normal behavior.

There are many treatment options for bipolar disorder. The most common treatment for bipolar disorder includes a combination of medication and therapy. However, some patients are not candidates for medication treatment. Patients that have a history of drug abuse, for instance, should in most cases not be placed on medication for bipolar disorder, as the risk for abuse is too great. Additionally, patients may not have a case of bipolar disorder severe enough to warrant medication. Other patients may choose to avoid the route of medication until it becomes absolutely necessary.

In response to these special cases in which medication treatment is not a viable option for bipolar disorder, that Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, or CBT, was developed. CBT is a type of therapy that assists patients in recognizing triggers and causes for their manic and depressive states. The patient can then learn techniques to avoid these triggers, and cope with symptoms during episodes. Seventy percent of bipolar disorder type one patients that undergo CBT experience one or fewer episodes within four years of starting the CBT treatment.

There are two main goals that are met by using CBT as treatment for bipolar disorder. The first goal is to recognize manic episodes before they become uncontrollable, and consciously change how they react to the episode. The second goal is to learn techniques, reactions, thoughts, and behaviors that can help to offset depression. These goals are realized through various techniques and activities prescribed by the therapist. With CBT, the treatment of bipolar disorder rests with the patient, who is given homework in the form of exercises and reading, which helps them to understand their condition and learn methods to cope with it.

The first step to successful treatment of bipolar disorder through CBT is to develop a treatment contract with the patient. This is a treatment plan that the patient agrees to follow, and also involves the patient's promise to complete all homework assignments and take any prescribed medication as directed. Because the success of CBT depends largely on the patient's responsibility and desire to cope with bipolar disorder, this is an important first step to successful treatment.

The second step to successful treatment of bipolar disorder through CBT is to monitor and grade moods. This is done with various worksheets that the therapist gives the patient. The patient may record their mood for the day, how many hours they have slept, their level of anxiety, and their level of irritability. Those with type two bipolar disorder may need to record their mood two or more times per day, as their moods cycle more often.

Understanding the pattern to mood cycling can help the patient then undergo the next step to CBT treatment for bipolar disorder. This step of CBT for treatment of bipolar disorder requires the patient to do homework in the form of worksheets and reading that will help the patient to understand how their thoughts effect their emotions. By understanding these things, the patient will be able to then practice altering their thoughts in a rational way to make emotions more rational as well, decreasing the number and severity of depressive and manic episodes.

The next step to CBT treatment for bipolar disorder is to learn how to recognize triggers. Triggers are the thoughts, emotions, situations, times of year, events, or environments that set off a depressive or manic episode. By learning how to understand and recognize their triggers, the patient can then learn to avoid the triggers entirely, thereby decreasing the number and severity of depressive and manic episodes.

Overall, CBT is a viable and quite successful treatment for bipolar disorder, and can be a healthy alternative to medication in some cases. If you feel you may be a candidate for CBT, you should contact your doctor or therapist to discuss this and other bipolar disorder treatment options.

What Is Bipolar Disorder?

Historically, persons with bipolar disorder may have been called simply moody or even insane at times. Later, the diagnosis was called manic-depression. While this term is still sometimes used, the generally accepted term is "bipolar disorder".

The two major phases of bipolar disorder are mania and depression. There are other facets of the illness, but they are all aspects of the two. Bipolar disorder is found equally in men and women. About 1 percent of the population can be found to have bipolar disorder.

Mania can be further divided into two categories: hypomania and full-blown mania. Hypomania is simply a state of intense energy and often high productivity. Those who never go beyond this point in bipolar disorder can be great salesmen or high-powered businessmen. The problem is that, for many, full-blown mania is just around the corner.

Full-blown mania tends to have more devastating effects on the person with bipolar disorder. The activity becomes so intense that ventures are undertaken with no actual potential for success, although the person with bipolar disorder cannot see that fact.

There is no consideration for the consequences of actions. Money may be spent which is needed for basic needs. Checks may be written when there is no money in the account. People with bipolar disorder are also often overly generous and give away things that they highly treasure or cannot afford to give away. They tend to regret these gifts later.

The manic state in those with bipolar disorder can be characterized, too, by a gregariousness that is beyond the ordinary out-going person's. This can lead to, among other things, sexual exploits that will cause unwanted results such as pregnancies, disease, or damage to relationships.

The manic phase of bipolar disorder can lead into a period of psychosis. This is marked by bizarre thoughts, such as delusions, or hallucinations. When in a state like this, people with bipolar disorder cannot protect themselves from hazards in their environments because they no longer know what is real.

Usually with mania, eventually there comes depression. The person with bipolar disorder may retreat into seclusion, may even go to bed for days. Sleeping, appetite, and energy level will all be effected.

The gravest danger for the person with bipolar disorder is suicide. All threats should be taken seriously, of course. However, during the depression phase of bipolar disorder they should be especially guarded against.

There has also been a tern for those who abuse drugs and alcohol to help them cope with bipolar disorder. This is called "dual diagnosis". It occurs especially in adults and teenagers. These addictions further complicate both the diagnosis and treatment of bipolar disorder. However, it seems to go along with the disease in many instances.

People with bipolar disorder have a wide variety of problems to manage. The reason for optimism is that many have found ways, through medication, therapy, routines, and other methods, to have some degree of control.

People have been having problems such as these for centuries. It is just in modern times that there has been adequate help for the condition. The name for bipolar disorder is newer than the disease, but whatever you call it, its effects can range from the difficult to the deadly. Treatment can be crucial.

Treatments for Bipolar Disorder

Bipolar disorder, or manic depression, is a mental illness which causes mood swings and mood cycling. Mood cycling refers to the transition between mania and depression. Mania, or manic episodes, typically consist of feelings of elation and invincibility, and cause disorientation, lack of sleep, and obsessive behaviors. Depression typically consists of feelings of overwhelming sadness and low self worth.

There are many treatments available for bipolar disorder, ranging from medications to therapy. There are too many medications to be discussed here in depth. There are also many forms therapy can take, and techniques that can be learned to assist the patient in gaining some control over their bipolar disorder.

Typically, bipolar disorder is treated with more than one medication. This is due to the dual nature of bipolar disorder. Most patients need at least two medications: one to control depression and one to control mania. The combination of these two types of medication works to obtain balance in moods and stop mood cycling. Often, a third medication, called a mood stabilizer, is also prescribed. The most common mood stabilizer is Topomax.

Popular medications for treatment of mania in bipolar patients include lithium, valproate (Depakote), carbamazepine (Tegretol), olanzapine (Zyprexa), and ziprasidone (Geodon). Lithium has long been considered the miracle drug of bipolar disorder. It is a sodium based medication that helps to balance the chemical imbalance in the brain that causes manic episodes in bipolar patients.

Valproate, or Depakote, was originally developed as a seizure medication. However, its effects on bipolar patients who have rapid cycling bipolar (moods that cycle every few hours or days rather than weeks or months), it has been quite effective. Carbamazepine, or Tegretol, is another anti-seizure medication. While it appears to have similar effects on bipolar disorder as Depakote, it has not yet been approved by the Food and Drug Administration for use as a bipolar disorder treatment.

Olanzapine, or Zyprexa, and Ziprasidone, or Geodon, are both anti-psychotic drugs, and are particularly effective for treatment of bipolar disorder in which mania becomes so severe that psychotic symptoms are present.

Medications for treatment of depression are called anti-depressants. Common anti-depressants include citalopram (Celexa), escitalopram (Lexapro), fluoxetine (Prozac), paroxetine (Paxil), and sertraline (Zoloft). All of these medications have been proven to be successful treatments for depression, although Celexa and Prozac are the most commonly prescribed.

Typically, treatment of bipolar disorder includes a combination of medications and therapy, or counseling. However, in some cases, medication may not be necessary for milder cases of bipolar disorder. In other cases, medication may not be desired by the patient, and the patient may wish to seek out other alternatives to medication for treatment of their bipolar disorder.

For these patients, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) can be quite effective. CBT is a method of bipolar disorder treatment that involves teaching the patient techniques to recognize triggers and symptoms of their mood cycling, and use that information and recognition to prevent the triggers from occurring, or the mood cycling from being quite as severe. Most of these techniques require the patient to develop cognitive thinking skills as well as critical thinking and problem solving capabilities. If the bipolar disorder is severe to the point that the patient is unable to engage in these thinking abilities and skills, CBT may not be a viable form of treatment in and of itself.

Overall, there are many treatments available for bipolar disorder. There are many options for the patient that can be discussed with the patient's doctors. If a patient is not satisfied with the form their treatment is taking, they should discuss it with their doctor, and not be afraid to change doctors in order to change treatment methods. All in all, effective and successful treatment of bipolar disorder rests in the hands of the patient.