Introduction
Bipolar disorder known in the past as manic depression is a condition that affects your moods, which can swing from one extreme to another.
If you have bipolar disorder, you will have periods or "episodes" of:
- depression where you feel very low and lethargic
- mania where you feel very high and overactive (less severe mania is known as hypomania)
The symptoms of bipolar disorder depend on which mood you are experiencing. Unlike simple mood swings, each extreme episode of bipolar disorder can last for several weeks or longer, and some people may not experience a "normal" mood very often.
Depression
The depression phase of bipolar disorder is often diagnosed first. You may initially be diagnosed with clinical depression before having a manic episode later (sometimes years later), after which you may be diagnosed with bipolar disorder.
During an episode of depression, you may have overwhelming feelings of worthlessness, which can potentially lead to thoughts of suicide.
If you're feeling suicidal or having severe depressive symptoms, contact your GP, care co-ordinator or the local mental health emergency services as soon as possible.
If you can't or don t want to contact these people, call the Samaritans on 08457 90 90 90. You can call them 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Alternatively, visit the Samaritans website or email jo@samaritans.org.
Mania
During a manic phase of bipolar disorder, you may feel very happy and have lots of ambitious plans and ideas. You may spend large amounts of money on things that you cannot afford and would not normally want. Not feeling like eating or sleeping, talking quickly and becoming annoyed easily are also common characteristics of the manic phase of bipolar disorder.
During the manic phase, you may feel very creative and view mania as a positive experience. However, during the manic phase of bipolar disorder, you may also have symptoms of psychosis (where you see or hear things that are not there or become convinced of things that are not true).
Living with bipolar disorder
The high and low phases of bipolar disorder are often so extreme that they interfere with everyday life. However, there are several options for treating bipolar disorder that can make a difference. They aim to control the effects of an episode and help someone with bipolar disorder to live life as normally as possible.
It is thought that using a combination of treatments is the best way to control bipolar disorder. Treatment can include:
