Familie Kontoret

Posts Tagged ‘Types Of Bipolar Disorder’

Bipolar disorder is a serious mental illness that can be very debilitating to a person’s normal life. Of course, it can also wreak havoc on the lives of the people around them as well. Unfortunately, there are 5.7 million adults within the United States today who are forced to deal with this debilitating disorder. Herein it is important to take into consideration the fact that misdiagnosis is very uncommon due to the continuum and various forms of this disorder. Therefore, it is quite possible that even more people have gone undiagnosed as well.

Types of Bipolar Disorder

There are essentially three main types of bipolar disorder. These are:

Bipolar I is whenever a person has at least one manic episode with or without any previous episodes of depression.
Bipolar II is whenever a person has had at least one hypomanic episode (similar to mania but not as severe because it won’t disrupt your daily routine) and one episode of depression.
Cyclothymia is a mild type of bipolar disorder that includes mood swings that are not as severe as those that are found within patients who have Bipolar I or Bipolar II disorder.

Symptoms Of Bipolar Disorder

There are a lot of different symptoms that a doctor must be on the lookout for whenever dealing with a bipolar patient. This is especially true since bipolar is a rapid cycling disorder that leads to four or more mood swings (alternating between mania and depression) per year. Psychosis (hallucinations and delusions) is oftentimes present in severe cases. Of course, there are also times whenever a person’s life isn’t affected at all.

Some of the symptoms of mania include:

Euphoria Extreme optimism Inflated self-esteem Poor judgment Rapid speech Racing thoughts Aggressive behavior Agitation Increased exercise Risky behavior Spending sprees Increased sexual drive Decreased need for sleep Becoming easily distracted Unable to concentrate Drug abuse

On the other hand, some of the symptoms of mania include:

Sadness Hopelessness Suicidal thoughts/behavior Anxiety Guilt Sleeping problems Appetite problems Fatigue Loss of interest Problems concentrating Irritability Chronic pain with no known cause

Knowing these symptoms is only the start of actually treating bipolar depression so that you will be able to live a more normal life. Many people with this problem have learned to live a normal life and function everyday just like the rest of us. Managing bipolar is possible with the proper support and knowledge from friends and family.

Bipolar Disorder, Rapid Cycling is generally defined as a condition of bipolar disorder, when the individual experiences four or more episodes of hypo/mania and depression, in spite of the different patterns and combinations in which they may happen. Bipolar Disorder Rapid Cycling is a mental illness in which the person experiences two extreme opposites of behavior, hypo/mania and depression.

It is likely that more than half of the persons afflicted with Bipolar Disorder experience Rapid Cycling at the start of the mental illness.

Bipolar Disorder, Rapid Cycling refers to the occurrence of four or more episodes of hypo/mania and depression within 52 weeks. If four or more episodes happen within four weeks, this state is known as an ultra-rapid cycle and if the occurrence of the episodes is fast and a number of of them occur within weeks, it is known as ultra-ultra-rapid cycle.

There may be different types of Bipolar Disorder, Rapid Cycling that have to be taken into account to fully appreciate the meaning of the term. An extreme form of Bipolar Disorder, Rapid Cycling is known as a ‘switch’, the person may sometimes move from one extreme to another; let’s say from mania to depression without an intervening normal phase. A person may have two switches in a year, or one switch and two episodes separated by a phase of normal behavior. The person may experience periods of normal behavior when mania and depression are absent.

The Rapid Cycling episodes and their frequency may occur in many different combinations and patterns because of different causes, but are included under the broad term of Bipolar Disorder.

Most people think the term Bipolar Disorder, Rapid Cycling is not helpful to describe specific patterns of the episodes. The different patterns of the episodes of mania and depression have different treatments and therefore should be called by different names.

Persons with Bipolar will go through an irregular pattern of highs and lows that play on their emotions. The highs are called episodes of mania.

During the episodes of mania, there are a number of symptoms that can be observed: a person may feel tremendously happy and positive; a feeling of exhilaration; overblown self esteem or ego; poor judgment; fast speech; excessive thoughts; you may feel agitated and aggressive; problems concentrating; problems sleeping;
You are easily distracted; have problems accomplishing tasks and take unnecessary risks.

Persons that go through the mania symptoms of bipolar will change into the depression side. These symptoms can include the following: feeling very sad; you may be irritable and lose your temper easily; feeling of hopelessness; you may be very tired; don’t care about completing tasks; lack appetite and lose weight; lose interest in daily activities; unable to sleep; guilty or feeling all is lost; thoughts of suicide.

A person afflicted with Bipolar Disorder, Rapid Cycling usually exhibits varying degrees of moods, such as normal behavior to hypo/mania to depression and again to hypo/mania; though the level of severity of hypo/mania, depression and normal times may differ every time.

Have a great day,

Paul Mackie

There are two main types of mood disorders that cause Depression: Unipolar Depression (or “regular” or “plain” Depression) and Bipolar Depression. There are other conditions that are also associated with depression such as Adjustment Disorder, PTSD, ADD, etc… but I will be limiting the discussion here to Unipolar vs. Bipolar Depression because this is often a source of misunderstanding.

Because in both cases the patient is seeking treatment for Depression, and the features of the Depressed episode can be exactly the same, the only true distinguishing feature between Unipolar and Bipolar Depression is that with Bipolar Depression there are times the person feels the opposite of depressed, with a distinctly elevated or expansive mood, energy and activity level. This is where the term “Bi-polar” comes from, as a person varies between 2 poles or opposite ends of the mood spectrum. This is in contrast to Unipolar Depression, which is sometimes referred to as plain or regular depression, where alterations in mood vary only in the down or depressed direction. When not depressed, people with Unipolar Depression return to a level mood, but never an expansive or ecstatic one.

There are two main types of Bipolar Disorder: Type 1, where the “up” phases are extreme and problematic, and Type 2, where the “up” phases themselves are not a problem, are usually experienced by the person as their best and most productive self, and simply serve as a marker to identify the type of mood disorder. Although the highs in Type I can be obvious, Type II can be particularly overlooked because the patient never seeks care when they are in the “up” phase (you never hear, “Doctor, this is the best I’ve ever felt, please do something about it!”) — they understandably come for treatment when they are depressed, just like patients with Unipolar Depression. As above, because the Depressed episode itself can look exactly the same, when a patient is seeking evaluation and treatment for Depression, it is important to determine the pattern of mood variation over time to distinguish between a Bipolar and Unipolar Depression.

It is not that one type of Depression is better or worse than the other, it is just that an accurate diagnosis determines proper treatment. Certain types of Counseling and Medication work best for one but not the other.

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