A Rudimentary Guide to Bipolar Disorder

Posted by Worker Bee at 4:11pm Dec 3 '09
You must sign in to send Worker Bee a message

So, I'm sure plenty of you know that I have bipolar disorder, I haven't exactly kept it a secret, and I did just recently post about being tired of it. I'm also sure that many of you, knowingly or not, know others that are bipolar. However, not very much is generally known about this disorder to general public - Hell, I was diangosed a year ago, and I *STILL* do not know much about it. However, I have recently gone on a reading binge about bipolar disorder, and I thought I would try to summarize my findings for any of you that are interested in learning more about this illness.

First: The types of episodes. There are different ways of catagorizing the episodes, but I'm going to group them in 4 groups: Manic, Hypomanic, Depressed, and Mixed. I paraphrase the DSM in the following. (WHy i didn't just copy it directly, I'm not quite sure...)

Manic/Mania: Symptoms must last for at least a week. Symptoms include:

A: An elevated, or irritated mood.
B: 3 or more of the following symptoms

1. Inflated Self Esteem.
2. Decreased need for sleep. Often the example given is feeling rested on 3 hours of sleep a night or less.
3. More talkative than usual, a pressure to speak, talking faster than usual.
4. Racing thoughts. May be thinking fast about once subject, or jumping quickly between many subjects, I believe.
5. Distractability
6. Increased goal oriented activities. OR an increase in psychomotor agitation. Why these two are grouped as one, i have no idea.
7. Risky activity, such as buying sprees and sex sprees.

C. Episode does not meet the criteria for a Mixed Episode.
D. Episode can not be explained away by another condition, or by a treatment for another condition (Such as an anti-depressant)

Hypomania: Symptoms persist for at least 4 days. Symptoms are the same as for a manic episode, with the following qualifications:

A.No Psychosis is present.
B. Noticable change in mood/functioning.
C. Symptoms are not severe enough to dramatically interfere with societal or occupational functioning, or to require hospitilization.

Depression: Symptoms persist for at least two weeks.

A.Includes either a depressed mood or a loss of interest or both. These each count as 1 towards the total of 5 symptoms required.
B.A total of five symptoms required, including 1 or 2 of the above symptoms, and at least 4 or 3 of the following symptoms (Depending on if it were one or two of the previous symptoms).

1. Signifiacnt weight loss or weight gain. (5% of body weight in a month).
2. Psychomotor agitation
3. Insomnia
4. Fatigue
5. Feelings of worthlessness, or feelings of excessive/misplaced guilt.
6. Decreased ability to concentrate, think, and an increase in indecisivness.
7. Anything between reoccurent thoughts of death and an actual suicide attempt.

Mixed State: Symptoms must last for a week. It is required that the patient fulfill both the requirements for a Depressive Episode and a Manic (or hypomanic, i think) episode simultaneously. Also, a marked impairment of functioning that might include hospitilization.

=====================================================


Now, there are 4 types of bipolar disorder: Bipolar I, Bipolar II, cyclothymia, and Bipolar NOS.

Bipolar I Now this is classic bipolar/manic-depressive disorder. Everyone diagnosed with this has had a full blown manic episode. It is not a requirement that someone has ever had a depressive episode, though in many cases someone diagnosed with this will have had a depressive episode at some point.

Bipolar II To have this diagnosis, it is a requirement to have had at least one Major Depressive Episode, and at least one hypomanic episode. It is also required that the one receiving this diagnosis has never had a full blown manic episode.

Cyclothymia At least two years of cycling between mild depression (not enough to fulfill the requirements for a Depressive Episode) and mild hypomania, with no more than 2 consecutive months symptom free.

Bipolar - Not Otherwise Specified Episodes are not long enough to be classified as one of the other types of bipolar, or there is cycling between normal mood and hypomania, without depression thrown in.

===================================

Rapid Cycling This does not refer to the Episodes themselves being shorter than the required duration (2 weeks for depression, 1 week for mania, 4 days for hypomania), but the fact that at least 4 distinct episodes occur in a year's time period.

===================================

Tune back in later for a summary of various medication options, and what types of medications are believed to be best for the different aspects of the disorder! Also, there will be a post about my personal dealings with bipolar disorder. If anyone here knows any of the information in this or any of my other posts to be incorrect, please correct me! And if anyone has any questions about bipolar disorder, please ask me!