Quite common during the current times, bipolar disorder is something that many people are suffering from. People of any age or gender can suffer from bipolar disorder, though it has been observed that people generally suffering from this disorder are between 20-60 years of age.
Bipolar disorder is a type of mental condition that people suffer from; there can be many reasons for its cause. Depression, stress and anxiety are also different types of mental health conditions and are different from bipolar disorder.
Bipolar disorder is a condition wherein a person experiences severe mood swings throughout the day. It is also known as manic depression. Mood swings can be high and low; it happens that the person might feel too happy or too sad; rather he can experience two extreme moody situations. It's not that the person will feel either too happy or too sad throughout the day; there will be some periods wherein he or she feels normal. The state of being extremely happy is known as manic depression. The person finds it hard to concentrate and follow the daily routine, decision-making ability gets hampered. The victim might suffer from hallucinations and other extreme symptoms that affect his daily functioning.
Manic depression, as mentioned above is when the person feels highly energised and is extremely happy for some periods of the day. This is what comes as an easy way to differentiate bipolar disorder from depression, stress and anxiety. When a person is suffering from depression, stress or anxiety, he/she will feel low on energy and disturbed; not happy and highly enthusiastic. People who suffer from the mania get very irritable and are quite restless. Another type of mania is the hypomania wherein people have milder symptoms of mania; lower levels of delusions and hallucinations. Hallucination is basically thinking or seeing something that is not actually visible. People at times have horrific hallucinations wherein they feel ghosts are around them. This is a very common and a major concern for people suffering from bipolar disorder.
Are there any types of bipolar disorder? Yes, there are 4 types of bipolar disorder which must be known to all so that they can help themselves or their loved ones suffering from it for a speedy recovery.
This is the most severe form of bipolar disorder. The person might experience one or more manic incidences which last for more than a week. The person is extremely enthusiastic and happy, which might also disrupt his daily life. An incidence of depression might also take place.
This is a little milder as compared to Bipolar Disorder I. A person suffering from this disorder experiences more incidences of depression and hypomania as well. Hypomania is a milder manic depression, but can still affect the daily functioning of a person. Chances of suicidal thoughts and attempts are high with this disorder.
This is again a milder form of bipolar disorder wherein the person experiences various incidences of hypomania and fewer incidences of depressions. This generally persists for two years or more.
This disorder is diagnosed when the person experiences 4 or more incidences of mania and depression in a year.
The causes of stress, anxiety, depression and bipolar depression are similar to each other. Reason being, all four are mental health condition that can trigger any of the 4 conditions. Read on for some of the major causes of bipolar disorder.
If someone in your family has suffered from any mental health condition, you are more prone to suffering it as well. It is not important that you will suffer; there are various other factors that come into play. It might happen that one of the siblings suffer from bipolar disorder while the other is perfectly normal.
Changes in the weather or climate affect the person and might lead to manic or depressive incidences. For example, with more hours of sunlight, a person tends to over react and suffers from hypomania, mania or depressive incidences.
People suffering from some health condition can suffer from hypomania caused due to the side effects of their medications. It is higher in cases when people are suffering from a life-threatening disease like cancer; the overthinking about the future and life might lead to hypomania and might even get worse.
Stress is a major cause of severe mood fluctuations. Those struggling for success work day and night and get upset when their effort does not turn out the way they expected it to be. This might lead to bipolar disorder. Any kind of stress persisting for long will lead to bipolar.
Chances of pregnant women suffering from bipolar are high. The stakes are even higher when the woman is genetically or biologically prone to bipolar disorder. This happens generally during the postnatal phase; the overflow of emotions due to happiness or hormonal changes puts them at a greater risk.
There are various other causes of bipolar disorder. Following is a list of such reasons:
Just like the causes of depression, stress, anxiety and bipolar depression are similar to each other, the signs and symptoms are somewhat similar too. Following is a list of symptoms that a person might show when he is suffering from bipolar disorder.
Above mentioned are some of the symptoms that a person might show which if not looked into soon might lead to a serious mental health condition. It is hard to diagnose or conclude whether you or someone close is suffering from bipolar disorder. It is important for a person to observe his or her mood patterns and try to decode the reason behind it. It becomes more difficult to diagnose if your relative or friend is experiencing mood fluctuations. It is mandatory to visit a therapist the moment you feel that something is not right. Please do not hesitate in visiting a therapist even if you are suffering from mild mood changes, just open up to the doctor and share everything you are going through. The moment you get suicidal thoughts, or someone close to you becomes suicidal, it is high time to visit the therapist! Look out for the above-mentioned signs and try to help out the ones who are suffering from this disorder.
It is hard to treat and control bipolar disorder at home. Stress can be relieved by various stress busters, depressed mood can be lightened by watching a comedy film, but bipolar cannot be treated completely on our own. Follow some of the tips written below to help you take the baby steps towards a non-bipolar life!
Avoiding your visit to the therapist for professional help to treat bipolar disorder is something that is a must. Before taking any of tips, this is the tip to follow. Therapists are trained and experts, hence no one else is in a better position to help you out.
Do not skip or avoid taking your prescribed medicines. It has been prescribed to make you feel better, so don't skip. Set alarms or reminder to remind you for taking the medicines.
Once you are aware of bipolar disorder and are contemplating the chances of you suffering from it, start observing your moods. Note it down or make a chart, it will be very beneficial to keep a track and also to inform the doctor for better assistance.
Accepting that you will experience extreme mood fluctuations, thoughts and hallucinations will make it easier for you to cope with this mental health condition. Reason being, the moment you accept it, you will be able to control your thoughts and stop assuming things.
For some people, consuming alcohol is in good nature to feel happy and enjoy, for some it maybe a reason to forget their worries and tensions. People tend to increase their consumption of drugs and alcohol when they feel low; this will further lead to mood fluctuations. Hence, avoiding it will help you.
The disturbed sleeping pattern is a major symptom of bipolar disorder. Even if it hard for you to sleep, make a routine and try to sleep for at least 7-8 hours a day. Put on some meditational music or instrumental music to calm you down.
Take out a few minutes every day from your busy life and devote it to breathing. Just sit on your chair while at work, close your eyes and take deep breaths. Taking deep breaths helps in controlled breathing, gives some peace to the mind and heart. The tensed muscles also get relaxed by taking in deep breaths.
Yes, eating habits can either make it easier for you to cope up, or make it worse. Consuming a lot of alcohol, caffeine, sugar and oil will make it worse for you. While, eating fresh fruits and vegetables; maintaining a healthy diet will improve your condition.
Coping with this mental health condition is very hard and might take a lot of time. Moreover, the extreme mood fluctuations and irritable nature might ruin your relationships with closed ones, but if they are supporting you why do you want to give up!
People generally consider bipolar disorder to be a case of temporary depression, but that is not the case. Just like this, there are various other myths and facts that we need to be aware of. Read on for some of the myths and facts.
People generally think that life is full of ups and downs and every human being goes through it and overcomes it. But, the intensity of stress and tension might be different for different people. Hence, considering your worries as normal is not correct. It may happen that your worries have been bothering you for long which has affected your thinking ability. Therefore, it is not to be considered as normal.
It is not necessary that if you experience an elated mood at one moment and a highly depressed mood at the other moment, you are suffering from bipolar disorder. When someone experiences an elated mood or a depressed mood for more than a week, then only one shall consider the chances of bipolar disorder.
People feel that sharing or constantly whining about their moods to someone does not help in relieving or calming their senses. This is just a myth. Anyone who is sad will definitely feel better after sharing it with someone close.
This is one of the biggest myths that can worsen the situation of the victim. A person who experiences mood fluctuations might feel that he cannot lead a normal life ever. Once diagnosed and treated properly, a person can eliminate this disorder from his life.
Bipolar disorder is something that would not be cured by time or by trying the home remedies. You need to consult a doctor to fully eliminate this disorder. Dr Mohit specialises in homoeopathy, advises some very effective medicines to cure or treat bipolar disorder.
Acid phosphoricum (30/200) is a medicine that works for everything; be it stress, anxiety, sleeplessness or depression. This is very effective for people who suffer from hair fall due to stress. Acid phosphoricum is more of a lifestyle medicine; tends to soothe an individual from all kinds of lifestyle problems like stress, anxiety or depression.
Cofee Cruda (30/200) helps in calming the senses leading to a peaceful sleep. People with anxiety face disturbances in sleep, majorly insomnia. This medicine calms the patient and refreshes him, providing him with an undisturbed nap or sleep. Make sure you do not take this medicine in mother tincture form as the medicine contains caffeine.
Arsenic Album(30/200) is a medicine for a person who is anxiety prone. He keeps fearing of minute little things and is irritable in nature. This medicine works best for a person who is orderly in nature and gets irritated if things are not the way it should be.
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