7 Facts About Bipolar Disorder
Bipolar disorder has become a prevalent and common disease but is still not talked about. Here are 7 Facts About Bipolar Disorder that you didn’t know about.
What is Bipolar Disorder?
Bipolar Disorder is all about mood swings. When a certain mood continues for a long time and induces anxiety, it becomes consistent. In Bipolar disorder, patients go through hysterical and depressive attacks or just manic episodes. Manic depression is another term for bipolar disorder.
What causes Bipolar Disorder?
The root cause of this disorder is not known, but in all likelihood, it is triggered because of specific factors such as a traumatic incident, shock, genes, a chemical imbalance in the brain, or a tweak in the brain. This illness is debilitating and drains out your strength and the capability to work normally.
Melancholic, distressed, depressed, sad, happy, manic, joyful or irritable are various types of moods a Bipolar patient may go through. When one specific mood continues for an extended period and brings distress to a person, it is said to be pathological. Research states that the neurocognitive function in patients points to a deficiency in deficits in the sections of concentration, function, and mental processes.
Signals and symptoms of Bipolar Disorder
- Mood Swings
- Anxiety
- Insomnia
- Exhilarated mood
- Distracted and fatigue
- Acute feelings of despair and melancholy
- Binge Eating or Starving
- Distracted, nervous and lethargic
7 Facts About Bipolar Disorder
1. Biological differences
People with bipolar disorder appear to have physical changes in their brains. The significance of these changes is still uncertain but may eventually help pinpoint causes. Majorly neurotransmitters of serotonin and dopamine are involved in Bipolar disorder.
2. Heady Mix of Despair & Exhilaration
There are occasions when a patient suffering from Bipolar can be in a state of depression and exhilaration, simultaneously. This can have a strong effect on the psyche and aggravate the disorder.
3. Pregnancy & Bipolar Disorder
During pregnancy, a woman can go through repeated attacks of mania and depression. The hormonal changes during pregnancy aggravate the symptoms and episodes of bipolar disorder.
4. Genetic Bipolar disorder
Bipolar disorder is more evident in patients whose parents or siblings are afflicted with this condition. Investigations are on to find the genes that may be the trigger of bipolar disorder.
Emotional, mental or traumatic events of death in the family, or addiction to alcohol, illogical behaviour or inactive in social or professional spaces.
5. Do children suffer from Bipolar Disorder?
It is a misconception that symptoms of Bipolar Disorder show up only in the twenties. Even children may suffer from seizures which strike due to sudden abnormal activity of neurotransmitters in the brain. It is usually quite difficult to identify bipolar in kids.
6. What are the 2 Types of Bipolar disorder-
The 2 different types are Dysthymia and Cyclopaedic Disorder. There can be a disparity in the symptoms of each type of disorder.
7. Difficult to diagnose
Bipolar disorder is misconstrued as depression. A diagnosis can be made only after perusing through substantial medical history and closely monitoring. The mood swings and the recurrence of the episodes need to be examined.
There is an urgent need for open dialogue and symposia that throws light on this debilitating disorder.
Sources:
This blog post is part of the blog challenge ‘Blogaberry Dazzle’ hosted by Cindy D’Silva and Noor Anand Chawl in collaboration with RRE Studios And Showcase Events’
‘This post is part of Blogchatter’s CauseAChatter’
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Disclaimer: Views expressed in this post are personal and for reading purposes only. They’re not medical advice. Each individual’s experience may vary. Please consult a professional if you need help.
@wordsmithkaur
@wordsmithkaur
Heard of this disorder a few years ago but sadly it was only used as an excuse of wrongdoing. Now it makes sense why they used this particular disorder to escape from the punishment.
Your post is so insightful Harjeet. I was watching a series where a guy suffers from bipolar disorder and was interested to learn more. Your post helped me clear many doubts and answered a lot of my questions.
This post throws light on Bipolar Disorder. Glad you used simple terms to explain them.
I have heard this term for the first time.Only knew about anxiety, depression. Thank u for this knowledgeable post
I have a friend who suffers with bipolar disorder and I’ve seen him go through extreme phases of depression. It really is extremely difficult to handle without professional help.
Never heard of this but it is intense and definitely u have shared something very important.
an insightful article! loved it
Thanks for bringing to light this mental illness which isnt talked about too often. Thanks to the new Netflix show “The Fame Game” where one of the leads is supposed to be suffering from Bipolar, this term has piqued the interest of many people.
Your posts on mental health are always very informative. Bipolar disorder needs to be diagnosed correctly or the person keeps suffering. We need more awareness about this.
Very insightful post. There are so many misconceptions when it comes to mental health conditions. We need more people to share such important information to make people more aware. Thanks for sharing.
Sure is an insightful read about bipolar disorder. Thanks for sharing
That is an in-depth researched post Harjeetji! I did not know pregnancy hormones also cause bipolar episodes. Many of these symptoms are also similar to depression but your post has clearled my mind.
I’ve heard so much about bipolar disorder, even someone closely known was diagnosed and treated for the same. Despite that, it’s mostly half-baked knowledge. This was an eye opening piece.
I actually have read a lot on this topic, having been inspired by a book I loved in my youth. I think not enough people understand this disorder and just quote people with it as ‘crazy’ thank you for sharing and trying to change perceptions
BPD isn’t spoken of often and still there r many misconceptions about it. You have amalgamated the post really well.
As always, an in-depth post. Thanks so much for sharing about this. People often use the term bipolar in jest but it can be horrific for the one suffering and the family.
This is such an insightful post. I had done a bit of research on this while working with a mental health organization and it is indeed sometimes difficult to diagnose.
many thanks for this post. much informative. I too am writing on mental health.
Thank you for talking specifically about the illness, I hope this raises awareness and discourages people from frivolously using the word ‘bipolar’ as a joke!
It looks very similar to me, like my own self. Chemical locha in my brain might be the reason behind. Well, Just kidding but, yes, I do see myself at times behaving different mainly pre and post periods. I know how difficult it is to undo and embarassing. Can”t even imagine how difficult it must be for those who are in such situations.
Your posts are always well researched and informative. Learned some new things about bipolar disorder today.
The latest issues of the DSM (Diagnostical and Statistical Manual of Mental disorders ) has laid down very different definitions and criteria of Bipolar disorders than what was earlier defined. I agree this is one of the most difficult mental disorder to diagnose and your post will help people think about the possibility of this diagnosis in a case .Great post !
Bipolar disorder is something now people are vocal about and I am so glad that you have shared the information in the right direction.
The main cause of bipolar disorder has been traumatic incidents in my experience. The person suffering from it needs extra care and understanding to go through this tough phase.
One need to be very observant of the health issues and understand that problem can be under lying. You have described all the possible ways of how bipolar disorder phases in.
As always, a well-researched and in-depth post shedding light on a sensitive topic not many people speak about at all. Kudos to you for constantly shining a light on important mental health issues.