Bipolar Disorder Symptoms - How Can You Really Tell?

Bipolar disordered, or manic-depressive disorder, is a condition that has a person's moods going through a process of highs and lows. bipolar disorder symptoms can vary from person to person, and depending on their level of bipolar, but there are common symptoms that can help define the disorder. Being able to understand the causes, notice the signs, and understand the episodes can help lay out a treatment plan for you.

There are different levels of bipolar, causing the bipolar disorder symptoms to be different for each individual. The depression that is associated with bipolar can cause symptoms such as anxiety, panic, fatigue, guilt, problems concentrating, irritability, loss of appetite or even sleep problems. Depending on the level of your bipolar, the presence of one or all of these symptoms will vary. A mild case of bipolar is sometimes called cyclothymia. In this case, the bipolar does not interfere with a persons daily life, and their depression and mood swings don't occur very often, and are easily handled. A more sever case of bipolar is sometimes called bipolar II. In this case, you can usually still go about your daily activities, but feelings of irritability and high moods can change causing a person to feel off balanced. The high moods, also called hypo-manic, can cause a person to feel an inflated self-esteem, cause rapid speech, poor judgement, risky behavior, an increased drive to perform goals or extreme optimism. In bipolar II, these two emotions change, but depression usually last longer.

The most extreme case of bipolar is sometimes called bipolar I. bipolar disorder symptoms for those with an extreme case like this can have the flip of emotions from depression to hypo-manic multiple times a day. The change in moods usually causes individuals to not be able to go to work, or handle their daily lives with out treatment. The feelings of extreme depression, and hypo-manic in bipolar I causes an individual to to have a hard time at work, school, or even their relationships. Understanding the level of bipolar in an individual can allow a health care professional to find the right path of treatment to help them get back to living their lives.

Understanding bipolar disorder symptoms can help someone recognize their emotion flips, helping them deal with them at the time. It can also help someone understand the roller coaster of emotions in someone close to them with bipolar. Understanding the disorder helps everyone deal with it so it does not interfere with ones lives as much as it can. For any questions, discuss it with a health care professional so they can give you all the information your seeking.