A Note about Bipolar Disorder

You may have heard about manic-depressive illness or bipolar disorder. Bipolar disorder is another mood disorder that is characterized by episodes of both depression and mania. In bipolar disorder there are mood changes that go from one extreme to another. One’s mood changes from feeling depressed as described above to feeling manic. A manic episode is experienced as feeling “up”, irritable, having an inflated self-esteem or grandiose ideas, increased energy and focused activity, staying awake for days straight but with a lot of energy, having racing thoughts, and impulsive or reckless behavior (e.g. spending sprees, foolish business investments, or sexual promiscuity). These mood swings can be rapid or occur over several weeks. Medication can be helpful in controlling or preventing the recurrence of manic and depressive episodes.