Bipolar disorder: symptoms, types and treatment

Bipolar disorder is a serious mental disorder in which the person has periods of alternating mood, lasting days, months or years, since depression, when there is deep sadness, mania, when there is extreme euphoria or hypomania, which it's a softer version of the craze.

Also called bipolar disorder, bipolar disorder and manic-depressive illness, this disease affects men and women equally, and may start in adolescence or from the age of 30.

It should be remembered that not every variation in mood means that there is a bipolar disorder. For the disease to be identified, it is necessary to undergo an evaluation by the psychiatrist or psychologist, who will detect how the person experiences the phases and how they interfere in their daily lives.

What symptoms

The characteristic symptoms of bipolar disorder are drastic mood swings that can include several symptoms, such as those listed below:

Agitation, euphoria and irritability	Bad mood, sadness, anxiety and pessimism
Lack of concentration	Guilt, worthlessness and helplessness
Unrealistic belief in your skills	Loss of interest in things I liked
Different behavior than usual	Feeling of fatigue
Tendency to drug abuse	Difficulty concentrating
Speaks very fast	Irritability and agitation
Lack of sleep	Too much sleep or lack of sleep
Denial that something is wrong	Changes in appetite and weight
Increased sexual desire	Chronic pains
Aggressive behavior	Thoughts of suicide and death

Bipolar disorder stages and types

The phases that a person with bipolar disorder experiences usually last between weeks to months, but there can also be periods of remission, in which there is a normal mood and without changes. The episodes are:

1. Bipolar depression

It is the period in which the person has depressive symptoms, and signs such as unhappiness, irritability or pessimism, lasting at least 2 weeks. It is usually the longest episode, and can persist for years, and many people initially end up being treated for depression instead of bipolar disorder.

Learn to identify the symptoms that indicate depression.

2. Mania - Bipolar Disorder Type 1

It is an excessively happy mood, with extreme euphoria, feeling of energy, agitation, mania of greatness and little need for sleep. There can also be irritability, aggression or delusional and paranoid ideas, so it can also be confused with schizophrenia.

To characterize an episode of mania, at least 3 or 4 of the symptoms must last for at least 1 week. These symptoms cause many problems to the person, interfering in their relationships and in their daily lives, being the main cause of hospitalization for people with this disease. Check out more details about bipolar mania.

When the person alternates between depression and mania, the disease is classified as Type 1 Bipolar Disorder.

3. Hypomania - Bipolar Disorder Type 2

They are symptoms similar to those of mania, but they are milder and do not interfere so much in the person's daily life, there is usually more chatter, sociability, impulsiveness, less need for sleep, greater capacity for initiative, energy for activities and impatience.

In order to detect hypomania, these symptoms must last at least 4 days. Hypomania usually passes quickly, and lasts less than a week, so it is not always identified.

When the person alternates between depression and hypomania, without a manic condition, the disease is classified as Bipolar Disorder type 2.

How the treatment is done

Bipolar disorder cannot be cured, but it can be controlled with medications prescribed by the psychiatrist and psychotherapy sessions. You can also choose to do phototherapy sessions, a special therapy that uses several colored lights to change the mood of the individual.

Drug treatment includes mood stabilizers, which will control manic episodes, such as lithium or valprotic acid, for example, and antipsychotics such as olanzapine or aripiprazole, which are used if symptoms of depression and mania persist.

In addition, antidepressants can also be used to help control depression, such as fluoxetine, for example, which must be combined with an antipsychotic to prevent episodes of mania, and eventually combine anxiolytics, which help to reduce anxiety and improve sleep, such as benzodiazepine medications.

Group therapy and family therapy are also good options for treating bipolar disorder. See more about treatment for bipolar disorder.