It’s a serious mental health condition that used to be referred to as manic depression.
This article discusses the symptoms of bipolar disorder, including symptoms of both mania and depression.
It also covers potential complications that may occur.
Verywell / Hugo Lin
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The nature and severity of these symptoms depend on the bang out of bipolar disorder that they have.
Cognitive difficulties can interfere with an individual’s thinking and make hard for them to complete tasks.
Changes in weight are also common.
While some people struggle to eat when they’re feeling down, others turn to food for comfort.
Thus, both weight loss and weight gain can be symptoms of a depressive episode.
Rare Symptoms
While less common, people may sometimes experience a mood disorder known ascyclothymia.
This condition causes mood changes that are not as severe as those in bipolar I or bipolar II disorder.
Cyclothymia often emerges in adolescence.
In many cases, it can be a precursor to bipolar I or II disorder.
Bipolar II causes depressive episodes and hypomania, which is a less severe form of mania.
Complications & Comorbidities
Bipolar disorder can lead to complications in a person’s life.
It can also present differently in certain groups.
There is no cure for bipolar disorder, but the symptoms can be managed effectively with appropriate treatment.
Women tend to have more depressive episodes and morerapid cyclingbetween manic and depressive episodes.
The course of the condition tends to be more severe when this diagnosis happens during childhood.
Symptoms also often manifest differently in children than in adults.
Getting an accurate diagnosis early on can lead to more effective interventions and improve treatment outcomes.
However, they are also quite predominant in bipolar disorder, especially as it relates to children.
To further complicate things, these conditions can often co-occur.
This is often an attempt, even on an unconscious level, toself-medicate.
To make matters worse,alcohol may interactwith the medications used to treat bipolar disorder.
It is possible for an individual to be diagnosed withboth of these disordersas well.
Depression
The one thing thatdistinguishes depressive disorders(unipolar depression) from bipolar disorder is mania/hypomania.
If a patient with depression swings into an episode of mania, the diagnosis becomes a bipolar disorder.
Misdiagnosed bipolar disorder is sometimes discovered after people start taking antidepressants, leading to the onset of mania.
Panic Disorder
Panic disorder is characterized by recurrent, spontaneouspanic attacks.
Panic disorder is often comorbid (occurs together) with mood disorders and other psychiatric disorders.
Panic attacks are also common in those with bipolar disorder.
The symptoms of schizophrenia areeasily confusedwith those of bipolar disorder.
Schizoaffective Disorder
Schizoaffective disorderinvolves having symptoms of major depression or mania, along with specific symptoms of schizophrenia.
However, the delusions or hallucinations must persist for periods when the mood symptoms arent present.
Co-occurring conditions can affect the course of bipolar disorder or contribute to misdiagnosis.
They may want to rule out any potential physical health issues that could be contributing to your symptoms.
Getting diagnosed and starting treatment can help minimize the risk of experiencing severe symptoms, such as psychosis.
The two types of bipolar disorder share common symptoms but differ in the way that mania presents.
Unfortunately, it is not unusual for people with bipolar disorder to be misdiagnosed with depression.
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