Bipolar Disorder

A person with bipolar disorder, or manic depression, has mood swings that soar to mania, or unusual elation, and then plummet to depression. During the depressive phase, the symptoms are the same as those of clinical depression, though the risk of suicide is higher. During the manic phase, the person may exhibit some or all of these symptoms:

• Increased energy
• Racing, disconnected thoughts
• Increased talking and physical activity
• Decreased need for sleep
• Extreme feelings of excitement, joy, agitation or irritation that may be inappropriate to a given situation
• Impulsive behavior and poor judgement; classic manic behavior includes excessive spending or rash business decisions
• Increase in impulsive sexual activity
• Odd or improper social behavior
• Grandiosity, an elevated belief in one's own importance

A person with bipolar disorder may also:

• Hallucinate, seeing or hearing things that are not there
• Experience paranoia, feeling they are in danger
• Harbor false, unshakeable beliefs about such things as wealth, power, or "super" abilities

A person with severe mania may need to be hospitalized until his or her mood and behavior are stabilized. Mania can last up to three months if not treated. Some people exhibit hypomania, which involves milder episodes of mania.

Bipolar disorder may follow different patterns.

• The person may experience normal moods in between the two extremes.
  
• The person may plummet rapidly into depression within a few days of mania (this is called rapid cycling).