Mental Health Disorder- Bipolar

Bipolar
Disorder
What Is Bipolar Mood Disorder?
Bipolar disorder, which used to be called manic depressive illness, is a disorder of
mood, characterised by extreme mood swings. The mood swings are episodic and in
between episodes the person is usually completely well. Bipolar disorder is a
neurobiological brain disorder and is strongly genetic. A person fluctuates between high
mood “mania” or “hypomania” and low mood “depression”.
What Is Mania?
Hypomania - Activity and thought speeds up, there is less need to sleep, mood is
high with a sense of wellbeing, but there is often irritation and intolerance towards other
people. Ideas flow quickly and thought processes are relatively intact. The person feels
well and in control, but may not see the consequences of their behaviour and may react
angrily if confronted. Judgment is affected and people may become unable to make
complex decisions. Hypomania can look very much like an exaggeration of the person‟s
normal personality and it is often difficult to get them to seek help or for health
professionals to recognise this as part of an illness.
Acute Mania - If hypomania is not treated the lack of sleep, inability to eat and drink,
and the high level of activity may lead to the person developing acute mania after a few
days. In mania, thinking is disjointed and distorted and may not make sense to other
people. The person may be talking so fast that other people cannot understand the flow
of thoughts. Hallucinations and delusions are common and may appear very real to the
person. Religious ideas are common, e.g. being a messenger of God, feeling especially
chosen, or in touch with a higher being. The person is at risk of accidental injury and is
usually not capable of looking after themselves. While in this acute phase, a person
may spend excessive amounts of money and go into serious debt without being able to
recognise the consequences. People who are manic may also take on risky ventures or...