Symptoms: Bipolar Disorder And Its Manifestations

Bipolar disorder involves a cycle of ups and downs, of high mania and low depression episodes. Several signs and symptoms of bipolar disorder should be watched out for.

At the bottom of the bipolar disorder spectrum is the depressive phase. This stage is characterized by persistent and recurring sadness interspersed with guilt and anger, feelings of isolation, anxiety, and hopelessness. If you are in this stage, you will also have problems in sleeping and eating, in maintaining interest and energy, in concentrating even. You may lose the urge for sexual activity, you will be self-conscious socially, you can be irritable, or you may be on the verge of suicide.

On the other end of the spectrum is the elevated and expansive mania. Here, you will have extra energy and you may not want to sleep as you are always high. Your thoughts and your words are always racing, barely able to keep track of each other. You are easily distracted as your attention span is very limited. You have a tendency to misjudge or miscalculate.

At this stage you can even try substance or drug abuse. Watch out also if you are having delusions of grandeur or over-importance. Your sexual drive may be on turbo this time. You are on the verge of breaking with reality and this is dangerous.

In-between is hypomania, where you are in a state that is a bit less extreme than your manic episodes. In hypomania, you may on impulse laugh uncontrollably for no reason at all. Your depressive spells are usually shorter than your manic spells. While the energy is not as high as in the manic stage, nonetheless, the racing thoughts and idea flights are present.

There is also a mixed state where symptoms of bipolar disorder combine simultaneously mania and depression. And this is very difficult for the sufferer as you are brought to the extreme highs and lows. In this mixed state, symptoms include anxiety and agitation, aggression, confusion, impulsiveness, irritability, panic and paranoia, even suicidal thinking.

There are also signs of feeling you are persecuted, feelings of rage, feelings of restlessness, belligerence, and morbidity. The mixed state is very volatile as shifts in the highs and lows are very easily triggered.

Symptoms of Other Bipolar Disorder Types

Rapid cycling comes from the presence of more than four episodes of the disorder’s highs and lows within a year. This state is characterized by changeability and difficulty to put a mark on a stable state. Rapid cycling has hypomanic or mixed episodes of high or low within a year. Bipolar disorder also can have you showing signs of cognitive defects like attention disturbance and attention deficit.

The symptoms of bipolar disorder are really numerous and quite complex. Look at this list of highs again when you begin to feel an increase in physical and mental energy and activity, exaggerated moods, over-confidence, extreme irritation or irritability, increased aggression, delusions of grandeur and self-importance, impulsive behavior, recklessness, delusions, and even hallucinations.

Looking at the lows, take note if you cry uncontrollably for no reason at all, if you lose appetite quickly, if you can’t sleep, if you worry a lot, if you are always anxious for no reason at all, if you are overly pessimistic and indifferent, if you feel you have no energy left to do even the most mundane of things, if you can’t concentrate, if you can’t decide on the simplest of things.

Think again if you lose interest in the things that you used to find so enjoyable and exciting, if you’re always avoiding your friends, if you’re beginning to lose a social life. If you have unexplained pains and aches, and if you, at worst, have recurring and persistent thoughts of death or even committing suicide, you’re at the extreme end of the spectrum.

These symptoms of bipolar disorder might not all manifest themselves in you. But for whatever it’s worth, even a few of them or a combination of some, when they become recurrent and bothersome, should not be ignored. Seek professional help and familial support. It may spell the difference between treatment and down-the-hill ailment and deterioration.