Bipolar disorder, also called manic depression, affects more than 10 million people in the United States, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). Treatment includes medication and psychotherapy. Early-onset bipolar is the name for bipolar that appears in childhood or adolescence. Symptoms may be more severe for early-onset bipolar than for adult-onset bipolar. This life-long condition is treatable but not curable. Even with treatment, some sufferers may face episodes of depression and mania throughout their lives.
Depression
Depression is a key symptom of bipolar disorder. HelpGuide.org notes that sufferers often endure long episodes of feeling empty or anxious, lose interest in normal daily activities and projects, feel slow and tired, may become irritable and struggle to concentrate or make decisions. Sleeping or eating habits can be disrupted, and suicidal thoughts or attempts may occur.
Mania
During the manic phase, there may be long periods of feeling extremely happy and outgoing, with additional symptoms such as restlessness, distractibility, racing thoughts and talking very quickly. Sufferers may have unrealistic beliefs in their abilities and make grandiose plans for their future. Sometimes sufferers act impulsively and participate in high-risk behaviors, including impulsive business investments, impulsive sex and extravagant spending sprees. An individual experiencing a manic phase may feel rested after two hours of sleep or impulsively quit his job, explains HelpGuide.org.
Mixed State
During a mixed state, an individual with bipolar disorder displays a combination of manic and depressed symptoms. Mixed state symptoms include insomnia, agitation and distractibility in combination with depression and sadness. According to HelpGuide.org, this combined state of low and high moods generates a particular risk for suicide.
Other Symptoms
The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) states that individuals with bipolar may suffer from delusions or hallucinations, especially during severe manic or depressed phases. Because of these hallucinations, bipolar patients may be wrongly diagnosed with schizophrenia, according to the NIMH. Other symptoms of bipolar may include poor work or school performance, relationship difficulties, or substance or alcohol abuse. Rapid-cycling bipolar disorder--when someone experiences four or more major episodes in a year--most commonly occurs in individuals with severe bipolar disorder.
