I know it’s one that both villainized and sensationalized by media, I want to know what it’s really like and not some fear-mongering missinformation a lot of people spread. Thanks
In: Biology
I’m bipolar 2. Medicated now but it took years to find the right mix. There were basically 2 states for me. 1. Depression, like can’t get off the couch, don’t want to eat, can’t take care of yourself depression.
2. Hypomania. Clean the entire house, can’t sleep, no filter to what you say/do, do a lot of things you regret.
I always looked at it as #1 sucks for me, #2 is honestly a fucking awesome feeling, but you can ruin your life and You’re a really terrible person to everyone else. Not going to lie, I do miss the hypomania sometimes.
I have friends who are diagnosed bipolar. The swings can be quite a rollercoaster for those around them, to the point where it can make maintaining a friendship quite a challenge.
The BP person can totally deny they are in a mania phase. To them the world is great, they are made of Teflon, this business idea is the best ever and can’t fail, selling everything, moving to Alaska to become a yak farmer will never fail and the wife and kids will be totally happy living in grandma’s shed for three months while they make the first million selling yak milk butter to McDonald’s. Besides in the evenings they will write a children’s book that is bound to be an international best seller – that’s a great backup plan!
With meds it can all be controlled but with one person I am thinking of, over a twenty year time frame… there was an initial incident of mania that almost destroyed her life, ( to the point it’s never discussed). and a second incident a decade later that was narrowly averted by a couple of good friends who pulled an intervention.
Bipolar disorder can be broken down based on the word used to describe it. Bipolar involves moods on two sides of the spectrum: mania and depression. Disorder is when there is dysregulation of mood mediated by a chemical imbalance in the brain. Honestly though, it’s similar to did the chicken come first or the egg.
The chemical imbalance may have started it or it may have been a consequence of something that happened in the environment. Triggering the genes causing mania. This is known as epigenetics. I’ve done a fair bit of research so all the other comments are pretty spot on when it comes to describing the symptoms, but where it comes from is a question that even doctors can’t answer for sure. That may be the reason why there’s a lot of fear mongering and misinformation.
It’s something no one person truly understands. Like physical illness, mental illness and disorders like bipolar disorder are often referred to as purely medical (ie. DSM-5). But I truly believe this is a wrong approach. It also has a lot to do with coping mechanisms used to adapt to trauma, later turning out to cause an imbalance in the brain leading to dysregulation of mood long enough for it to become a disorder. That’s my take on that. As someone who got diagnosed 6 years ago and have been looking into ways to heal without medication (I’m still on medication cause I’m scared mania will happen again). The highs are very high, but the lows are very low and in my case happened simultaneously. I wouldn’t wish it upon my worst enemy, cause the actions from then have affected my life up until now negatively. I’ve been in remission and have improved since, but my life took a turn that I never in a million years expected. Hope this helps give you first hand perspective on what it’s like to have bipolar disorder.
Psychiatry additionally recognizes mixed states with bipolar where you feel agitated / hypomanic (or manic) and depressive at the same time.
Depends on the person but I’ve experienced those frequently. The worst! And pure depression is also the worst.
I’d like to add that mood episodes can often be caused or exacerbated by life stressors. For me they don’t typically appear inexplicably out of the blue. I don’t just wake up one day fully hypomanic or depressed and then suddenly switch back. It’s a gradual burn and takes a few days or weeks until I realize how truly off I feel and make adjustments accordingly.
It might help to think of it as waves with larger peaks and valleys. My capacity for overall mood and energy-level lability is more intense than the average neurotypical person.
When I’m properly medicated, the waves are way less extreme. I still feel things deeply, just not in a debilitating way.
I was initially diagnosed with Bipolar 1 (as a young adult) now updated to Bipolar 2. It’s actually quite a nuanced experience that it’s hard to explain like you’re five. The DSM (psychiatric diagnostic manual) is reductive in many ways.
Of course I can’t speak for everyone.
My grandpa was severely bipolar. My mom told me that he would have long episodes of depression where he wouldn’t get out of bed or even move to go to the bathroom or anything.
He would then start to get better and would be a normal guy until he slides into a manic state. He would just be really active and hyper. Eventually he would slide into psychosis. He would have hallucinations and delusions.
This was in the 70’s so when he got institutionalized he would get shock therapy and be prescribed lithium which he said was worse than anything.
Going to do my best. My dad is bipolar, and I grew up living with his condition. I’m not as well-versed in the medical side of it, but I’ve been given some explanations about how he acted.
Imagine you’re balancing on an individual board, or a see-saw. Point is, there are two sides, and you need to maintain a balance in the middle so that neither side touches the ground. It’s not easy, while you’re standing in the middle. One wrong move, and you can lose your balance, and you can’t correct the shift before everything falls over.
Now, most people have the ability to regulate their moods a bit. Their brains release chemicals that keep their moods on the milder side, and easy to manage. I’d compare this to that see-saw, with the bars the everything rotates on booted tightly into place. Everything still moves, but the bolts make the shifts slower and easier to catch and get under control.
Bipolar disorder is like someone removed the bolts, and coated everything with grease. You have little to none of those mood stabilizers, because your brain doesn’t make them. Which means your mood can change dramatically very quickly, and go to extreme highs and lows beyond what many people feel. This, in turn, can lead to self-destructive behaviors: you self-harm in a moment of intense depression, or you over spend in a moment of intense euphoria and lose your savings.
my daughter is bipolar 1 with psychosis. she has had it all her life and would have extreme bouts of anger and crying while hallucinating visually and auditory. she got old enough for a dx and was bp1 with psychosis. they started her on seroquel and immediately started noticing a different child. she grew up takes her meds and works in education
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