How Do You Know if Your Bi-Polar?
Question by Chad: how do you know if your bi-polar?
Best answer:
Answer by roadhunter
Your other personality will come back and wonder why you asked this question.
Answer by kallisti1987
Bipolar disorder is a psychiatric diagnosis that describes a category of mood disorders defined by the presence of one or more episodes of abnormally elevated mood clinically referred to as mania or, if milder, hypomania.
Individuals who experience manic episodes also commonly experience depressive episodes or symptoms, or mixed episodes in which features of both mania and depression are present at the same time.
These episodes are usually separated by periods of “normal” mood, but in some individuals, depression and mania may rapidly alternate, known as rapid cycling. Extreme manic episodes can sometimes lead to psychotic symptoms such as delusions and hallucinations.
Bipolar disorder is a condition in which people experience abnormally elevated (manic or hypomanic) and abnormally depressed states for short, or significant periods of time; in a way that interferes with functioning. Not everyone’s symptoms are the same and there is no blood test to confirm the disorder.
Scientists believe that bipolar disorder may be caused when chemicals in the brain are out of balance. Bipolar disorder can look like depression. Distinguishing the illness is tricky, even for mental health professionals. What makes bipolar disorder different is that in addition to depression, a person also experiences the “highs” of a manic phase.
Signs and symptoms of the depressive phase of bipolar disorder include persistent feelings of sadness, anxiety, guilt, anger, isolation, or hopelessness; disturbances in sleep and appetite; fatigue and loss of interest in usually enjoyed activities; problems concentrating; loneliness, self-loathing, apathy or indifference; depersonalization; loss of interest in sexual activity; shyness or social anxiety; irritability, chronic pain (with or without a known cause); lack of motivation; and morbid suicidal ideation[3] In severe cases, the individual may become psychotic, a condition also known as severe bipolar depression with psychotic features.
Mania is generally characterized by a distinct period of an elevated, expansive, or irritable mood state. People commonly experience an increase in energy and a decreased need for sleep. A person’s speech may be pressured, with thoughts experienced as racing. Attention span is low and a person in a manic state may be easily distracted. Judgment may become impaired; sufferers may go on spending sprees or engage in behavior that is quite abnormal for them. They may indulge in substance abuse, particularly alcohol or other depressants, cocaine or other stimulants, or sleeping pills. Their behavior may become aggressive or intrusive. People may feel out of control or unstoppable. People may feel they have been “chosen”, are “on a special mission”, or other grandiose or delusional ideas. Sexual drive may increase. At more extreme phases of bipolar I, a person in a manic state can begin to experience psychosis, or a break with reality, where thinking is affected along with mood.[4] Many people in a manic state experience severe anxiety and are very irritable (to the point of rage), while others are euphoric and grandiose.
In order to be diagnosed with mania according to DSM-IV a person must experience this state of elevated or irritable mood, as well as other symptoms, for at least one week, less if hospitalization is required. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, “A manic episode is diagnosed if elevated mood occurs with three or more of the other symptoms most of the day, nearly every day, for 1 week or longer. If the mood is irritable, four additional symptoms must be present.”[5]
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