Have You Ever Heard of Bipolar Disorder? The Psychological Trauma of Bipolar Disorder

Are you sometimes so restless that it seems you are high on energy or hyperactive, then you wake up the next day and suddenly your mood is so low you don’t feel as happy as before?Do you sleep less at night and catch up on sleep during the day, or is your sleep pattern so awkward that you think you are turning into an insomniac?How is your concentration? Can you stay fixed on a subject long enough to remember, or do your thoughts race from one thing: conversation, movie, book, and imagination so fast that it could compare to the speed of light.Well, if your answer to these questions is yes, you just may probably be suffering from bipolar depressive disorder. This is a mental disease that commonly presents symptoms in the late teens and early 20′s. It is a mood disorder where there are unusual mood changes between extreme elation or happiness and severe depression.A bipolar person can experience altering moods in seconds, minutes, hours, or days. This usually is a cycle, and the person will find himself in much psychological distress because he or she would hardly understand why his moods and emotions are at different extremes of highs and lows.Similar to other mental illnesses, bipolar disorder cannot be identified physiologically. What that means is that there are no tests that can pinpoint the disorder. Diagnosis is made through symptoms, course of illness, and family history.In the Diagnostic Statistical Manual (DSM – IV) adopted by the American Association of Psychiatrist, the essential feature of bipolar affective disorder is the occurrence of at least one episode of mania-usually but not necessarily accompanied by at least one depressive episode.Thus, any previously well person suffering from a first episode of mania (or hypomania), would be classed as suffering from this disorder. If a previously well person suffered from one or more depressive episodes, he or she is not classed thus till an episode of mania occurs.Symptoms of mania include euphoric mood, racing thoughts, restlessness, increased energy, and others. Hypomania, a mood state associated with bipolar disorder, is characterized by persistent and pervasive elevated or irritable mood.In some cases, people experience hyper-sexuality with extreme increased sexual urge or activity. Someone in this state craves sexual pleasure, and in some cases may do this through unconventional means. (Homosexuality and sadomasochism are not uncommon.)Your sexual urge is on hyper-drive, but you are not expected to live a risky sex life. Try bringing your urge under control and seek healthy relationships; it would help if you told your partner about your condition: That way there is an understanding of your needs.On the other hand, when the mania falls, depression follows and that’s when the low associated with bipolar disorder occurs.Signs of depression include loss of interest in daily activities, sleeping too much or inability to sleep, inability to concentrate, loss of interest in studies, anxiety, thoughts of death and suicide, confusion, seclusion, irritable mood, and fatigue.Anyone with bipolar depressive disorder necessarily needs counseling and care; but the condition can be managed successfully. However, that’s if the person sees a doctor, is diagnosed and from then on take control his or her life.