Bipolar Disorder

What is Bipolar Disorder?

The bipolar disorder is a mental illness that manifests in form of mood swings which often ranges from depressive low moods to manic high moods. What this means is that bipolar disorder is a mental illness that cause affected people to alternate between high and low moods. That is, people with bipolar disorder can have different mood swings within a moment.

Symptoms of bipolar disorder

People with bipolar disorder may experience two or more of the following:

• Sudden mood changes

• Depressive moods

• Energetic moods

• Feelings of hopelessness

• Loss of pleasure in activities

• Risk-taking behaviors

• Excess or low sexual drive

• Restlessness

• Unreasonable thoughts

• Uncoordinated speech

• Uncoordinated body movements

• Excess sleep or difficulty falling sleep

• Fatigue

Causes of bipolar disorder

Bipolar disorder causes are not fully known. However, the following factors may play a role.

• Genetics

• Exposure to stress

• Substance abuse

• Personality differences

• Environmental factors

The treatments for bipolar disorder

The treatment can be broadly grouped as follows:

Bipolar disorder can be treated using medications that are prescribed by a psychiatrist.

It can also be treated using psychotherapy, such as relaxation training, psychoeducation, support therapy, or behavioral therapy.

Finally, in severe cases, people with bipolar disorder may require urgent hospitalisation.