Bipolar disorder used to be more commonly known as manic-depressive. It is a crippling disorder in that the person who is bipolar loses the ability to cope with life. Severe shifts in mood have them riding either too high or dangerously low, sometimes missing the opportunity to level out and experience life in the middle, where the rest of us travel. The manic-depressive is unable to maintain a relationship. The roller-coaster ride of emotional ups and downs are too hard to cope with for the person who has bipolar disorder as well as those around him or her. Living and loving someone who is bipolar is difficult because you never know what to expect from one day or sometimes even one hour to the next.

Bipolar Disorder Is Often Misdiagnosed

Most bipolar disorder victims develop the symptoms either very early in life, before twenty, or late in life, somewhere around the menopause or as men call it, change in life. Unfortunately, most bipolar patients are misdiagnosed because the symptoms are so hard to pin down during the onset of this disorder. Many people are improperly treated for depression, which usually makes matters worse, particularly during the manic part of the mood swings. Some sufferers are mistreated simply because there may be a period of time between extremes where they feel normal. Their mood levels out for a short time before they shift into a dangerous high or low. The symptoms vary but will generally present as the following,

– Episodes of mania, including but not limited to a prolonged high
– The person feels extreme happiness, sometimes bordering on excitement
– They will be garrulous and become extremely active. They can be irritable and tense
– Speak rapidly and cannot keep up with their thoughts. They move quickly from one thought to the other
– They become distracted very easily
– They experience restlessness and cannot sleep well
– They go on spending sprees and take on too many responsibilities or tasks

– A period of depression or extreme low
– They feel something akin to dread
– They lose interest in things they usually enjoy
– They become tired or worn down
– They lack the ability to concentrate or focus on anything, as if they no longer cared
– They will either eat too much or not at all
– Thoughts or actions of suicide are not uncommon during these episodes

Highs-Lows-With Very Little Normalcy

As you can see, the person with bipolar disorder has a difficult time coping with life as they shift from one extreme to the next, even if there is a period of days or weeks of semi-normalcy. Even during these times, as they are headed up towards mania, they can become very productive. They believe they are doing well while those around them can plainly see the changes that are going on.

Finding Common Ground Is Difficult

Treatment for bipolar disorder is a battery of drugs designed to bring the bipolar sufferer to one level or one mood on an ongoing or constant basis. There are a large number of bipolar patients who will only remain on the drugs for a short period of time, usually less than a year because it inhibits the way they think and they miss those few periods of high productivity and feelings of highs during which they felt in control. This is one of the most dangerous aspects of manic depression because the person will have to go through the lows and extreme highs to experiences these fleeting times in between, if they are lucky enough to have them at all.

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Category: Medicines and Remedies
Keywords: actions of suicide ,depression,happiness,maintain a relationship,manic-depressive,Bipolar Disorder