please read below for more details.
bipolar II – NIMH government agency
NAMI.org for support & family education
nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/bipolar-disorder/complete-publication.shtml
Mania: (this is NOT the same thing as feeling good.)
Signs and symptoms of mania (or a manic episode) include:
* Increased energy, activity, and restlessness
* Excessively “high,” overly good, euphoric mood
* Extreme irritability
* Racing thoughts and talking very fast, jumping from one idea to another
* Distractibility, can’t concentrate well
* Little sleep needed
* Unrealistic beliefs in one’s abilities and powers
* Poor judgment
* Spending sprees (shopaholic behavior)
* A lasting period of behavior that is different from usual
* Increased sexual drive (greater than normal increase)
* Abuse of drugs, particularly cocaine, alcohol, and sleeping medications
* Provocative, intrusive, or aggressive behavior
* Denial that anything is wrong
A manic episode is diagnosed if elevated mood occurs with three or more of the other symptoms most of the day, nearly every day, for 1 week or longer. If the mood is irritable, four additional symptoms must be present.
Signs and symptoms of depression (or a depressive episode) include:
* Lasting sad, anxious, or empty mood
* Feelings of hopelessness or pessimism
* Feelings of guilt, worthlessness, or helplessness
* Loss of interest or pleasure in activities once enjoyed, including sex
* Decreased energy, a feeling of fatigue or of being “slowed down”
* Difficulty concentrating, remembering, making decisions
* Restlessness or irritability
* Sleeping too much, or can’t sleep
* Change in appetite and/or unintended weight loss or gain
* Chronic pain or other persistent bodily symptoms that are not caused by physical illness or injury
* Thoughts of death or suicide, or suicide attempts
A depressive episode is diagnosed if five or more of these symptoms last most of the day, nearly every day, for a period of 2 weeks or longer.
A mild to moderate level of mania is called hypomania. Hypomania may feel good to the person who experiences it and may even be associated with good functioning and enhanced productivity. Thus even when family and friends learn to recognize the mood swings as possible bipolar disorder, the person may deny that anything is wrong.
Without proper treatment, however, hypomania can become severe mania in some people or can switch into depression.
Signs and symptoms that may accompany suicidal feelings include:
* talking about feeling suicidal or wanting to die
* feeling hopeless, that nothing will ever change or get better
* feeling helpless, that nothing one does makes any difference
* feeling like a burden to family and friends
* abusing alcohol or drugs
* putting affairs in order (e.g., organizing finances or giving away possessions to prepare for one’s death)
* writing a suicide note
* putting oneself in harm’s way, or in situations where there is a danger of being killed (AKA passive suicide – making no attempt to jump out of the way when a bus or train may run them over)
rapid cycling:
When four or more episodes of illness occur within a 12-month period, a person is said to have rapid-cycling Bipolar Disorder. Some people experience multiple episodes within a single week, or even within a single day. Rapid cycling tends to develop later in the course of illness and is more common among women than among men.
rapid cycling is very difficult for me to deal with. i swing back and forth between mania and depression at such a fast rate that it can be difficult to be in control and alarming.
music: Andrea Boccelli Cieli Di Toscana
Duration : 0:3:14
