{"id":150059,"date":"2022-08-25T18:01:33","date_gmt":"2022-08-25T22:01:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/effectsofanxiety.net\/?p=150059"},"modified":"2022-08-24T22:12:37","modified_gmt":"2022-08-25T02:12:37","slug":"bipolar-disorder-depression-mania-causes-symptoms-treatment-pathology","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/effectsofanxiety.net\/archives\/150059","title":{"rendered":"Bipolar disorder (depression &#038; mania) – causes, symptoms, treatment &#038; pathology"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"jetpack-video-wrapper\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Bipolar disorder (depression &amp; mania) - causes, symptoms, treatment &amp; pathology\" width=\"660\" height=\"371\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/KSvk8LLBo2g?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\nMaybe you\u2019ve heard the term \u201cbipolar\u201d\r\nused to describe someone who\u2019s moody, or who has mood swings, but this colloquial use\r\nof the term is different from bipolar disorder. Bipolar disorder, which used to be called\r\nmanic depression, is a serious mental illness that causes a person to have dramatic shifts\r\nin emotions, mood, and energy levels: moving from extreme lows to extreme highs. But these shifts don\u2019t happen moment to\r\nmoment, they usually happen over several days or weeks. There are a few different types of bipolar\r\ndisorders, but there are some common features.\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\nFirst, the low moods are identical to those\r\nin a related disorder – major depressive disorder, also known as unipolar depression. Individuals with this can feel hopeless and\r\ndiscouraged, lack energy and mental focus, and can have physical symptoms like eating\r\nand sleeping too much or too little. But along with these lows, the thing that\r\nsets bipolar disorders apart from unipolar depression is that individuals can have periods\r\nof high moods, which are called manic episodes or hypomanic episodes, depending on their\r\nlevel of severity. In a manic state, people can feel energetic,\r\noverly happy or optimistic, or even euphoric with really high self-esteem. And on the surface, these might seem like\r\nvery positive characteristics, but when an individual is in a full manic episode, these\r\nsymptoms can reach a dangerous extreme. A person experiencing mania might invest all\r\nof their money in a risky business venture or behave recklessly. Individuals might talk pressured speech, where\r\nthey talk constantly at a rapid-fire pace, or they might have racing thoughts and might\r\nfeel \u2018wired,\u2019 as if they don\u2019t need sleep. Manic episodes can also include delusions\r\nof grandeur, for example,, they might believe that they are on a personal mission from god,\r\nor that they have supernatural power.\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\nAnd they might make poor decisions without\r\nany regard for later consequences. One way to understand these swings is by charting\r\nthem on a graph. So let\u2019s say the y-axis is mood, with mania\r\nand depression being on the far ends of the axis, and the x-axis is time. The average healthy individual might have\r\nnormal ups and downs throughout their life, and they might even have some pretty serious\r\nlows once-in-awhile, maybe after losing a job or moving to a new place and feeling lonely. An individual with unipolar depression though\r\nmight have the normal highs, but they might have some crushing lows that last for a long\r\nperiod and may not have an obvious trigger.\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\nNow, for the bipolar disorders, the first\r\none is called Bipolar 1, and these are people that have some major lows that last at least\r\n2 weeks, and some major highs that last at least a week or require hospitalization. That said, untreated manic episodes can last\r\nas long as 3-6 months. Depression is seen in most cases but is not\r\nrequired for a diagnosis. The second one is called Bipolar-2, and this\r\nis when a person experiences similar lows and has additional highs called \u201chypomania\u201d,\r\nwhich are less severe manic episodes than we see in Bipolar 1. To qualify for a diagnosis, these hypomanic\r\nstates need to last at least four days. Once again though, these symptoms generally\r\nlast a few weeks to a few months. Alright the third one is called cyclothymia,\r\nor sometimes cyclothymic disorder, and these individuals have milder lows as well as the\r\nmilder highs or \u201chypomania\u201d like you see in Bipolar-2, and they cycle back and forth\r\nbetween these two over a period lasting at least 2 years.\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/images.pexels.com\/photos\/4603589\/pexels-photo-4603589.jpeg?auto=compress&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;h=650&amp;w=940\" \/>\r\n\r\nSometimes, people with Bipolar disorder can\r\nshow other, less common symptoms as well, for example having what is referred to as\r\nmixed episodes\u2014experiencing symptoms of both depression and mania at the same time. Another symptom they might have is rapid cycling,\r\nwhich describes a situation where a person has 4 or more episodes of depression or mania\r\nwithin a given year. Like most mental health conditions, the exact\r\nthe underlying cause of the bipolar disorder isn\u2019t known, and there is no single \u201cbipolar gene\u201d\r\nidentified, but it\u2019s thought that there are genetic and environmental factors that\r\nplay a part.\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\nFor example, one interesting clue is that\r\npeople with family members who have bipolar disorder are 10 times more likely to have\r\nit themselves. Another clue is that some drugs and medications\r\ncan trigger manic episodes, like selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (or SSRIs). It\u2019s also worth mentioning that people with\r\nbipolar disorder often have other disorders like anxiety disorders, substance use disorders,\r\nADHD, and personality disorders as well, making diagnosis and treatment a real challenge. Even though there\u2019s no cure for bipolar\r\ndisorder, identifying and treating individuals is important, since there\u2019s a real\r\ndanger that the person could harm themselves or commit suicide. One of the oldest treatments is also one of\r\nthe most effective treatments, and that\u2019s lithium salts. Lithium acts as a mood stabilizer\u2014smoothing\r\nout the highs and lows they experience. That said, it is much better at treating manic\r\nrather than depressive episodes, and so individuals who take it often have to take other medications\r\nas well, which can be problematic since some antidepressants (like the SSRIs) can trigger\r\nmanic episodes in individuals who are predisposed to them.\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\nOther treatment options include antipsychotics,\r\nanticonvulsants, and benzodiazepines, but many of these\u2014including lithium\u2014have side\r\neffects that can be severe and lead to non-adherence which can be dangerous for an individual. Now, unlike certain disorders like unipolar\r\ndepression, psychological interventions, like talk therapy, or cognitive-behavioral therapy\r\nare not particularly effective in treating the manic episodes of bipolar disorder. Having said that, they can still be very helpful\r\ntools to help individuals with bipolar disorder in general\u2014especially after a manic episode\r\nhas ended. They can also help an individual handle stressful\r\nsituations that might otherwise lead to a manic episode, thereby helping to prevent a potential\r\nmanic episode in the first place. Alright, so super fast recap: bipolar disorder\r\nis a mental disorder characterized by depression, periods of lowered mood, as well as mania,\r\nand periods of heightened mood.\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\nThanks for watching, you can help support\r\nus by donating on Patreon, subscribing to our channel, or telling your friends about\r\nus on social media.\r\n\r\n\r\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=KSvk8LLBo2g\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">As found on YouTube<\/a>\r\n\r\n<a href=\"https:\/\/685955rp8zuj0r6-wa06xakucy.hop.clickbank.net\/\">FUNNELIFY is a new, first-of-its-kind, groundbreaking app \u27af\u27b1 \u27ab \u27aa\u27ac which finally allows you to deliver separately auto-generated mobile pages with unheard before lighting speed. Plus it skyrockets \u27af\u27b1 \u27ab \u27aa\u27ac After using the Funnelify product, you will recognize a great increase in your leads and sales. This product shows methods to boost your traffic without using any shortcuts. The best thing is that you can build unlimited \u2026<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; Maybe you\u2019ve heard the term \u201cbipolar\u201d used to describe someone who\u2019s moody, or who has mood swings, but this colloquial use of the term is different from bipolar disorder. Bipolar disorder, which used to be called manic depression, is a serious mental illness that causes a person to have dramatic shifts in emotions, mood, &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/effectsofanxiety.net\/archives\/150059\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Bipolar disorder (depression &#038; mania) – causes, symptoms, treatment &#038; pathology<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":150057,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1,5,4771,111,7,3438,365,988],"tags":[37759,953,38953,34442,38353,38030,59765,38956,38088,39627,39628,39625,39626,38087,36478],"class_list":["post-150059","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-anxiety","category-causes-and-prevention","category-disasters-accidents","category-diy","category-getting-help","category-ice-skating","category-music","category-news","tag-bipolar-disorder","tag-depression","tag-disease-cause-of-death","tag-health-industry","tag-mania","tag-manic-depression","tag-manic-depressive-disorder","tag-medicine-field-of-study","tag-mental-disorders","tag-nursing-field-of-study","tag-nursing-school-organization","tag-osmosis","tag-pathology-medical-specialty","tag-psychological-disorders","tag-what-is"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/effectsofanxiety.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/htmlF_IMG_6306c33c534d9.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/effectsofanxiety.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150059","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/effectsofanxiety.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/effectsofanxiety.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/effectsofanxiety.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/effectsofanxiety.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=150059"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/effectsofanxiety.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150059\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":150069,"href":"https:\/\/effectsofanxiety.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150059\/revisions\/150069"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/effectsofanxiety.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/150057"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/effectsofanxiety.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=150059"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/effectsofanxiety.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=150059"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/effectsofanxiety.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=150059"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}