What is Bipolar Disorder?

Everyone has ups and downs; feeling happy, sad and angry is normal. But if you are experiencing extreme mood swings, laughing more than you normally would or crying at the smallest thing, you may be suffering from bipolar disorder. It used to be called Manic Depression.

Bipolar disorder is no one’s fault. It does not come from a “weak” or unstable personality. It’s got nothing to do with being smart or with your intelligence. It is a condition that can be treated.

Bipolar disorder typically consists of three states:
1. a high state, called “mania”, or hypomania when part way high
2. a low state, called “depression”
3. a well state, during which many people feel normal and function well.

Typically a person with Bipolar disorder will have episodes throughout their life in which they’re mood may be high, low or regular. Low mood depressed states are more common than high typically lasting for months. Low periods usually last longer than high periods, which typically last days, weeks or a few months. There are well periods of regular mood as well.

Signs and symptoms of mania include but are not limited to:
•Extreme happiness
•Extreme irritability
•Rapid, unpredictable emotional changes
•Racing thoughts
•Overreacting, misinterpreting events
•Increased interest in activities
•Overspending
•Feeling invincible or all powerful, inflated self-esteem
•Excessve energy
•Decreased need for sleep
•Increased sexual drive, sexual indiscretions
•Poor judgment

Signs and symptoms of depression include but are not limited to:
•Sad mood
•Preoccupation with failures or inadequacies and a loss of self-esteem
•Feelings of uselessness, hopelessness, excessive guilt
•Slowed thinking, forgetfulness, difficulty in concentrating and in making decisions
•Loss of interest in work, hobbies, people
•Social isolation
•Abnormal drowsiness
•Agitation
•Changes in appetite or weight - eating too little or too much
•Oversleeping or insomnia
•Decreased sexual drive
•Suicidal thoughts

Prevalence

You or someone you care about may have been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. You may now feel alone in facing the problems of the illness, but you are not alone. About one to two per cent of adults worldwide suffer from bipolar disorder. Men and women are affected equally.

What causes bipolar disorder?
Unfortunately we do not know the answer to this question! However, research shows that genes play a strong role. Stress or difficult family relationships do not cause the illness but these factors may "trigger" an episode in someone who already has the illness. In some women, bipolar disorder may appear during pregnancy or shortly after it. There are medical clues to the brain’s mood regulation system not working as it should and allowing the normal ups and downs to swing too far and for too long.

How can bipolar disorder be treated?
The most common treatments are medication and counselling/psychotherapy. These can be used alone or in combination with other treatments. Approximately one in three people with bipolar disorder will remain completely free of symptoms just by taking mood stabilizing medication. These mood stabilizers return mood to their normal state and try to prevent illness episodes and keep moods in a healthy range. Like other medical disorders such as high blood pressure or diabetes, bipolar disorder can be effectively managed and controlled by combining treatment and a healthy lifestyle. Unfortunately people sometimes get so unwell that they require hospitalization for support and to protect them from their illness.

More information

For further information about bipolar disorder contact a community organization or your family doctor to find out about support and resources available in your community.

Websites:
"Bipolar Screening Tool"
http://www.fhma.com/bipolar_02.html

Treatment of Bipolar Disorder: A Guide for Patients and Families, Kahn/Ross/Printz/Sachs, 2000.
http://www.psychguides.com/Bipolar_2000_Guide.pdf

Bipolar Disorder: A Summary of Clinical Issues and Treatment Options, Canadian Network for Mood and Anxiety Treatments, 1997
http://www.canmat.org/psychs/index.html

Mood Disorders Association
http://www.mooddisorders.on.ca/bipolar.html

Canadian Mental Health Association
http://download.cmha.ab.ca/Edmonton/Bipolar%20Disorder.pdf

National Network for Mental Health
http://www.nnmh.ca

mentalhealthminute.com