Bipolar Disorder

Bipolar disorder is a mental health condition that causes extreme mood swings, including emotional highs (mania or hypomania) and lows (depression). During manic phases, a person might feel overly energetic, euphoric, or irritable, and may engage in risky behaviors. During depressive phases, they might feel very sad, hopeless, and lose interest in daily activities. These mood swings can affect sleep, energy, activity, judgment, and behavior.

“Bipolar disorder (formerly called manic-depressive illness or manic depression) is a mental illness that causes unusual shifts in a person’s mood, energy, activity levels, and concentration. These shifts can make it difficult to carry out day-to-day tasks.”

  • NIMH

Symptoms

Bipolar dissorder is makred by alternating periods of exaggerated elation and depression, in which a presons mood swings suddenly from one extreme to another.

mood swings consist of mania, hypomania, balanced mood, mild depression, and depression phases. symptoms of these phases include:

  • mania - euphoria, short atention span, loss of sleep or appatite, or psychosis

  • hypomania - milder verion of mania that lasts a few days, includes agitation and reclkess behavior

  • balanced mood - relatively stable mood state where the person is niehger maniac nor depressed

  • mild depression - feeling sad hopeless, or irritatable

  • depression - emotionaly painful (learn more about depression here)

Causes