It is a serious mental disorder that leads to extreme mood swings from being extremely happy to sad. Robert Downey Jr. has it, recently the rapper Honey Singh also claimed to have been suffering from it. It is said to be related to creativity. It occurs in late teenage years to early adulthood. Mind you, it’s not easy to diagnose. It is certainly found to be hereditary, other causes are not that certain.
1. Earlier information on bipolar depression suggests that it was characterized under regular depression.
2. Most people with bipolar depression are not helped by antidepressants, on the contrary it makes it worse—triggering mania or hypomania, causing rapid cycling between mood states, or interfering with other mood stabilizing drugs.
3. One often feels hopeless, sad, empty, irritated, tired, sluggishness, guilt, and suicidal thoughts. This is one extreme of the bipolar.
4. The other extreme is euphoria, extreme excitement, happiness in small things, no care in the world, just going with the flow.
5. There are no tests to determine whether you have bipolar disorder.
6. Treatment is necessary in Bipolar, it needs proper management and education. It is curable.
7. People may go for months, sometimes even years without an episode.
8. Drug abuse is common in this disorder, it acts as an escape from the depression and makes the person feel better in euphoria.
9. Genetic and environmental factors play an important role, 70% of the cases have it because of genes.
10. There is no cure for Bipolar Disorder as of now, the medications help in keeping the symptoms at bay. Researches are on-going.
