Friday, February 6, 2009

Discovering you have Bipolar!

By Dr. Arturo Ovies

Everyday life for most people can be very routine. For most people the day may start by going to work, attend meetings and meet many different people. Maybe on the way home you stop off at the supermarket, spend time with the family, make dinner and do some other chores. Now you do this everyday for years, it can start to effect you in many different ways and can be one of many factors the be part of making someone ill.

Anyone suffering from bipolar disorder has to deal with this condition every day. Many people often don't realize that they have an illness and may feel isolated by feeling the way they do. Taking the steps necessary this illness can be managed if given the right tools!

Bipolar disorder was often referred to as manic depression for many years. However, it was realized that the symptoms for bipolar disorder where much more severe in relation to emotional feelings. It has been documented the individuals may be happy one moment to being suicidal the next. The extremes of emotion is why this is illness is now called bipolar disorder.

Episode

The four main areas of episodes are depression, mania, hypomania and mixed mood. The most severe of the four episodes is mania where someone could be expressing emotions of joy and happiness to anger. Individuals that have this type of emotion tend to exhibit a risky behavior pattern. A milder version of mania is hypomania which is the same as mania but without the extremes of emotion. Mixed mood is the combination of both the mania and depression mixed together.

Symptoms to be aware of!

Symptoms are divided into depression and mania. Depression symptoms include feelings of sadness, hopelessness, worthlessness, and guilt. These individuals sleep too much or too little and experience changes in appetite or weight. They always feel tired, restless, and can't make a sound decision. The worst case is when the person thinks about suicide and death. Mania symptoms include an increase in the level of energy, racing thoughts, sleeps less, easily distracted, more self-confident, more talkative, focused but accomplishes little, and often do extreme or unusual activities.

Types

Here are the four main types of bipolar:

1. Bipolar 1 ? This type of bipolar often displays manic and mixed episodes as well as depression. These types of emotions can last from days to months in duration. One main catalyst for this type of bipolar is seasonal change.

2. Bipolar II ? this involves major episodes of depression and a hypomania episode. Normal functioning can also take place in between the said episodes.

3. Cyclothymic Disorder ? A more milder form of bipolar that occurs less frequent then the other 2 disorders. The main episodes are hypomania and depression that produce a fluctuating level of disturbance in the individual!

4. Not Specified ? This is when someone does not fall into any one of the other three types of disorders mentioned. However, it should be noted that the disorder does vary from one person from another!

There is no known cause of bipolar disorder. Some say that it has something to do with genetics. But that alone is not enough to cause such disorder. Perhaps other factors contribute to the disorder and that is why further studies are underway.

Neurotransmitters are special chemicals located in the brain cells of all types of people, age groups and sex. These are special chemicals that seem to be involved in the disorder in one form or another.

If you think you or a loved one have symptoms of bipolar, please take the time to consult with a medical doctor to get your options and do it as soon as possible!

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