Bipolar Disorder
Bipolar Disorder affects approximately 1% of people over the course of their lives and often beings before age 25.
With Bipolar Disorder a person has both major depressive episodes and manic or hypomanic episodes.
Symptoms:
- A Major Depressive Episode that lasts at least 2 weeks, where you’ve felt sad or depressed most of the day, almost every day. You might also experience most of the following symptoms:
- Eating much more or much less than normal
- Sleeping much more or much less than normal
- Moving restless or barely moving at all
- Feeling really tired and lacking energy
- Losing feelings of pleasure or enjoyment
- Feeling worthless, hopeless, or guilty
- Having trouble concentrating or making decisions
- Losing interest in activities you usually enjoy
- Having thoughts of death and dying, including suicidal thoughts and plans
- Attempting suicide
- A Manic Episode that lasts at least one week, where your mood has been extremely elevated or irritable and you are much more active and energetic than usual. You will also experience most of the following symptoms:
- Feeling really confident, like you can do anything (even if it’s impossible)
- Feeling like you don’t need to sleep, and not getting much sleep
- Feeling super talkative, like there’s a buildup of words inside you that need to get out, and speaking much more than usual
- Feeling like your thoughts are racing and jumping from one idea to another really quickly
- Feeling easily distracted by small and unimportant details
- Feeling motivated to move around and get things done, often without accomplishing goals
- Feeling like nothing can go wrong, even when you do really risky things, like having unprotected sex, using drugs, speeding, or blowing all your money
- Sometimes people have hypomanic episodes, which are a less severe form of manic episodes.
- People with Bipolar I Disorder experience Manic Episodes.
- People with Bipolar II Disorder experience Hypomanic Episodes.
- These symptoms prevent you from being able to do well at school, at work, or in your relationships and are not due to an obvious cause.
For More Information:
TMH Speaks... Bipolar Disorder
