How to understand bipolar disorder
Today we’re going to look at the main components of bipolar disorder. Bipolar disorder is a mental disorder in which a person’s mood swings between two poles. When the mood of the person goes up, it is called mania. And when the mood goes down, it is called depression. Each of these periods of time with an abnormal mood (manic or depressed) is called an episode(1). A person with bipolar disorder usually has both types of episodes throughout life, and they might happen every once in a while. Even if the usual is having both types of episodes, the only requirement to be diagnosed with bipolar disorder is to have at least one manic episode.
So, if you think about it, everyone’s mood can go up and down. How do we know what are bipolar swings in mood and what are normal swings? The difference is how deep it goes up and down. People with bipolar disorder have much stronger mood swings. These swings affect the person and its surroundings negatively. The person’s function becomes worse in different areas, and they can’t work, relate to others or think in the same way that they usually do.
It’s also important to know that bipolar disorder is a chronic disease. Between the episodes of mania or depression there are periods where you come back to normal, and can continue life as usual. Sadly, that doesn’t mean that you are cured from bipolar disorder. There is always a risk for another depressive or manic episode.