Easy version to understand :)
For those who dont know what it is or dont understand, let me explain it to you in the simplest way I can.
Bipolar (BP), a mood disorder, is a mixture of depression and mania. Dependent on the specific type of BP , the person with the illness can spend a variable amount of time in each state. A ‘typical’ BP affect person spends on average 3 months in darkness, then 3 months in light. It also depends if you’re medicated or not. If not, episodes may last even longer. Mania for me was 6 months unmedicated. It is a complete array of mood and emotion, this disorder and those who are affected by it.
Like an Alaskan season, the darkness does not end for long periods. In the dark periods, depression is a close dear friend. Depression can show many faces from suicidal ideologies and idealization, self medicating with drugs and alcohol, antisocial behaviors, changes in eating and sleeping habits, and helplessness coupled with hopelessness. Energy levels drop. BP people do not want to leave the house, they lose pleasure in things that they used to adore, they sleep for endless hours but do not get joy from it. It is difficult for them to see the light at the end of the tunnel. They romanticize death and the benefits of ‘ending it all’, thinking it noble or better for those around them. They plot and plan suicide. Many carry it out. A percentage of 1 in 5 succeeds. In ‘normal’ populations, that rate is MUCH lower.
When the page turns and mania creeps in, the mood lightens. At first, it is a pleasant and refreshing change. Gone are the daydreams of guns and car crashing, replaced feelings with optimisms and expression. Delusions of Grandeur can manifest in manic phases. High energy, self-confidence, and sexual intensity return. The BP person feels like they can do it all! Sound great? Not so much. Because concentration is interrupted by the need to move, the need to go and do, seldom do projects or ideas see completion.
Sleeping takes a backseat, only to increase levels of irritability and frustrations with others because they cannot see or understand the wonderful concepts flushed into the BP’s mind. Sexual promiscuity often occurs. Skill with money drops as impulse shopping, foolish risk-taking, and the inability to account for money interferes with daily life. In the highest depths of mania, it can have psychotic episodes where skilled doctors must study the patients because it can mimic Schizophrenia. Voices, visual disturbances, talking so fast that it cannot be understood, and phobias often accompany the psychotic state of mania.
To add to the confusion of this disorder, there are those who are not typical. They suffer from ‘rapid-cycles’. That could mean that instead of a three month period, a person could have the yo-yo signs in a different time frame. It could be longer, but most of the time, when someone is given this label, they symptoms manifest in a more rapid fashion. It could be as quickly as a 24 hour period where unlucky souls can feel depressed in the morning and manic by nightfall.
One more possibility to those who love someone with this disorder or are diagnosed with it themselves; there are those who have ‘mixed’ episodes. This means that a person can have some symptoms that are typical of depression with mania and vice versa. One could be depressed but not be able to sleep. One could be manic with little energy. It makes it harder for professionals to both diagnose and treat. Those prone to this type of BP can be sent into accident episodes with the wrong medication. It makes for trial and error when it comes to medication’s success.
BP is very real. It can be debilitating, dangerous, and life threatening. It typically takes an adult with this disorder many years of actively seeking a diagnosis to be properly given this one. It takes even longer to find the proper management of medication.
It can be successfully treated with patience, hard work, determination, and a good support system. People who find success in treatment can never stop the medication however; it would be like a diabetic skipping insulin. Because medications are not enjoyable and often have harsh side effects, patients with BP often decide to stop meds, hoping to sustain good health without it. This is not the case.
It does not stop BP patients and they are the largest number of people with mental health issue who are non-compliant. Often when this occurs, self-medication happens. Because the brain chemistry off kilter, the person searches for relief where and whenever it can be found. This can be any form of drug that is opposite to what emotional state of the person. If they are depressed, drugs which give a boost are preferred. If the person is manic, they tend to turn to depressants such as downers and alcohol. I turn to alcohol in depresion and mania, so there’s n escaping. Addictions are commonplace for these individuals.
Life with BP is not an easy one. It is a roller coaster without seat-belt. Good can come with this illness. There have been studies showing than many of the worlds most creative and influential writers and poets have had this disorder. Because of the constant up and downs, emotions experienced by those with BP reach peaks and valleys that make wonderful fodder when writing.
BP is not an excuse. There might be those who are mistakenly diagnosed with it, it may be over-diagnosed in today’s society. Those who are not affected by it may take an old-fashioned stance that a person is in charge of their will. That is true. However, one can hardly blame a diabetic for being a diabetic. The only way to safeguard people with this disorder is to encourage the treatment. These folks are not stupid. Most BP patient’s have IQs which are ‘above average’ or ‘higher’. This does not mean that they WANT to take the medication, especially if it there have been, or continue to be, difficult side effects.
Those who think BP is something to ‘get over’ are grossly behind times and have failed to research scientific proof. This is real and legitimate. Untreated, this illness, this genetic DISEASE kills. I should know. I have the diagnosis of rapid-cycling with mixed episode and psychotic form of BP. It is not an excuse, it is an explanation.
Bipolar (BP), a mood disorder, is a mixture of depression and mania. Dependent on the specific type of BP , the person with the illness can spend a variable amount of time in each state. A ‘typical’ BP affect person spends on average 3 months in darkness, then 3 months in light. It also depends if you’re medicated or not. If not, episodes may last even longer. Mania for me was 6 months unmedicated. It is a complete array of mood and emotion, this disorder and those who are affected by it.
Like an Alaskan season, the darkness does not end for long periods. In the dark periods, depression is a close dear friend. Depression can show many faces from suicidal ideologies and idealization, self medicating with drugs and alcohol, antisocial behaviors, changes in eating and sleeping habits, and helplessness coupled with hopelessness. Energy levels drop. BP people do not want to leave the house, they lose pleasure in things that they used to adore, they sleep for endless hours but do not get joy from it. It is difficult for them to see the light at the end of the tunnel. They romanticize death and the benefits of ‘ending it all’, thinking it noble or better for those around them. They plot and plan suicide. Many carry it out. A percentage of 1 in 5 succeeds. In ‘normal’ populations, that rate is MUCH lower.
When the page turns and mania creeps in, the mood lightens. At first, it is a pleasant and refreshing change. Gone are the daydreams of guns and car crashing, replaced feelings with optimisms and expression. Delusions of Grandeur can manifest in manic phases. High energy, self-confidence, and sexual intensity return. The BP person feels like they can do it all! Sound great? Not so much. Because concentration is interrupted by the need to move, the need to go and do, seldom do projects or ideas see completion.
Sleeping takes a backseat, only to increase levels of irritability and frustrations with others because they cannot see or understand the wonderful concepts flushed into the BP’s mind. Sexual promiscuity often occurs. Skill with money drops as impulse shopping, foolish risk-taking, and the inability to account for money interferes with daily life. In the highest depths of mania, it can have psychotic episodes where skilled doctors must study the patients because it can mimic Schizophrenia. Voices, visual disturbances, talking so fast that it cannot be understood, and phobias often accompany the psychotic state of mania.
To add to the confusion of this disorder, there are those who are not typical. They suffer from ‘rapid-cycles’. That could mean that instead of a three month period, a person could have the yo-yo signs in a different time frame. It could be longer, but most of the time, when someone is given this label, they symptoms manifest in a more rapid fashion. It could be as quickly as a 24 hour period where unlucky souls can feel depressed in the morning and manic by nightfall.
One more possibility to those who love someone with this disorder or are diagnosed with it themselves; there are those who have ‘mixed’ episodes. This means that a person can have some symptoms that are typical of depression with mania and vice versa. One could be depressed but not be able to sleep. One could be manic with little energy. It makes it harder for professionals to both diagnose and treat. Those prone to this type of BP can be sent into accident episodes with the wrong medication. It makes for trial and error when it comes to medication’s success.
BP is very real. It can be debilitating, dangerous, and life threatening. It typically takes an adult with this disorder many years of actively seeking a diagnosis to be properly given this one. It takes even longer to find the proper management of medication.
It can be successfully treated with patience, hard work, determination, and a good support system. People who find success in treatment can never stop the medication however; it would be like a diabetic skipping insulin. Because medications are not enjoyable and often have harsh side effects, patients with BP often decide to stop meds, hoping to sustain good health without it. This is not the case.
It does not stop BP patients and they are the largest number of people with mental health issue who are non-compliant. Often when this occurs, self-medication happens. Because the brain chemistry off kilter, the person searches for relief where and whenever it can be found. This can be any form of drug that is opposite to what emotional state of the person. If they are depressed, drugs which give a boost are preferred. If the person is manic, they tend to turn to depressants such as downers and alcohol. I turn to alcohol in depresion and mania, so there’s n escaping. Addictions are commonplace for these individuals.
Life with BP is not an easy one. It is a roller coaster without seat-belt. Good can come with this illness. There have been studies showing than many of the worlds most creative and influential writers and poets have had this disorder. Because of the constant up and downs, emotions experienced by those with BP reach peaks and valleys that make wonderful fodder when writing.
BP is not an excuse. There might be those who are mistakenly diagnosed with it, it may be over-diagnosed in today’s society. Those who are not affected by it may take an old-fashioned stance that a person is in charge of their will. That is true. However, one can hardly blame a diabetic for being a diabetic. The only way to safeguard people with this disorder is to encourage the treatment. These folks are not stupid. Most BP patient’s have IQs which are ‘above average’ or ‘higher’. This does not mean that they WANT to take the medication, especially if it there have been, or continue to be, difficult side effects.
Those who think BP is something to ‘get over’ are grossly behind times and have failed to research scientific proof. This is real and legitimate. Untreated, this illness, this genetic DISEASE kills. I should know. I have the diagnosis of rapid-cycling with mixed episode and psychotic form of BP. It is not an excuse, it is an explanation.