Signs of Bipolar Disorder
Bipolar disorder is a mental issue that can affect the brain in ways that can cause a person to have very wild mood swings. A person who suffers from bipolar disorder can sometimes be called a manic depressive. However, the huge mood changes can also cause them to seem to be extremely happy as well. Bipolar disorder can be extremely difficult to diagnose correctly because of these mood swings.
Years can pass before a medical professional actually realizes the actual source of their patient’s issues. One main reason for this difficulty with identifying the disorder is that the symptoms can get easily confused with other mental illnesses. Very often doctors will incorrectly diagnose bipolar disorder as either schizophrenia or depression.
Below you will find some of the most common signs of bipolar disorder:
It’s pretty hard to find someone who is always upbeat and happy every single day. Most people will have lowered moods because of difficulties and disappointments in their lives. It could be because of a variety of different things. However, for most people, they rise above it and move on quickly. But for those suffering from bipolar disorder will have feelings that will go to the extremes that you won’t generally find with those who don’t suffer from the disorder.
Those who suffer from the disorder will be completely drained of their energy and will have no motivation at all to get up and start doing things. Often they will spend a lot of time just sleeping and tend to be very irritable and can be difficult for others to handle them.
The most popular concept of bipolar disorder is that people suffering from it are always depressed. However, those who have bipolar disorder can easily go from being extremely depressed to being extremely ecstatic about things. They will also be extremely energetic. Patients also will feel like they don’t need to eat or sleep. They also might talk a lot and be overflowing with a high level of self-confidence.
One may also tend to get involved in all types of activities and not thinking about it all too deeply. For instance, they mind go on a spending spree or get involved with reckless behaviors. Their ideas also seem to come to them in rapid succession. They tend to live their lives in a crazy whirlwind. Then, instantly, that upbeat mood they are experiencing can suddenly turn into a deep depression.
Seem to Be Deluded
There are times when a person with bipolar disorder seems to lose their grip on reality. Sometimes they become convinced that someone is after them, or the police might be looking for them for some crime they didn’t actually commit. They sometimes will believe they are hearing and seeing things that aren’t there.
In some cases, people come to believe that they are possessed of some kind of psychic powers. Those who don’t know about their disorder can mistake them for being either very eccentric or mentally unstable. However, many people who suffer from bipolar disorder seem normal.
Often Suffer From Substance Abuse
Having bipolar disorder can increase the likelihood of them getting involved with some sort of substance abuse. Often they feel that drugs and alcohol can offer them a fix or an escape from the difficulties in their relationships, their dark thoughts, and feelings of low self-esteem.
The different addictions that can develop for a person afflicted with bipolar disorder will only complicate their problems by aggravating the mental issues that exist and then adds even more problems that will need to be addressed. This can often also lead to crimes that end up with very serious consequences.
When a person suffering from bipolar disorder they will often speak extremely rapid during their manic periods. They will often continue to talk rapidly for very long periods of time. However, they generally don’t allow their train of thought to come to any type of conclusion that’s logical. They just seem to go from one topic to another in a rapid-fire manner. The thought patterns they have don’t seem to make any kind of sense to those around them.
Uncontrollable Racing Thoughts
During a manic episode, a person suffering from bipolar disorder find it extremely difficult to focus just on one thing at a time. They also tend to over analyze the thoughts racing through their mind. Their speech and thoughts tend to all be random and move from one topic to another and generally are all unrelated. These types of symptoms can hold a person back from pursuing any objectives that might be goal oriented.
Agitation and irritability are extremely common with someone suffering from bipolar disorder. Those who suffer from it can easily become very irritated by things that they normally wouldn’t be bothered by. Their mood instability can be present in both a depressive and a manic episode. They can also switch quite quickly from one extreme to another before returning to their baseline.
Unable to Maintain a Schedule
Another very common symptom of this disorder is that they tend to be unable to maintain a normal schedule. This is why very often those that suffer from bipolar disorder often miss a lot of time from work, school, and other life commitments. One of the top diagnostic criteria for bipolar disorder is to see if a patient’s symptoms are actually bad enough that they interfere with their ability to function on a daily basis.
Those suffering from bipolar disorder can also often have times of extreme fatigue and tiredness. They tend to always want to go to bed or they may tend to stay in bed extremely late. One may also experience a total lack of motivation to get anything done.
They can often also feel like they are bogged down mentally during their episodes of depression, even though they may have gotten plenty of sleep the night before. The mental fogginess will replace the energetic euphoria they may have had before. They often tend to lack drive or the desire to those things that once interested them.
Chronic Pain for No Reason
Some people will suffer from chronic pain and there doesn’t seem to be any known cause for the pain. Their pain can be all through their body and can even cause extreme headaches. They may have generalized muscle aches as well as other nonspecific aches everywhere. Sometimes a real pain like a simple bruised knee, for example, may end up feeling unbearable and exceeds the pain that others might feel not suffering from bipolar disorder.
Feelings of Hopelessness and Deep Sadness
During an episode of depression, those suffering from bipolar disorder are often overwhelmed with feelings of hopelessness and sadness. They can often fall into a deep state of depression and will then suddenly have a sense of happiness and then out of nowhere will become very sluggish and they don’t see any point in doing anything at all.
Thoughts of Suicide
When a person is suffering from bipolar disorder they often feel extremely depressed and sad and in very extreme instances they can develop thoughts of suicide and will act in a suicidal fashion. This is very dangerous because bipolar disorder can make people act in a compulsive manner and it could lead them to actually taking their own life.