Bipolar disorder, also
known as manic depression or bipolar affective disorder is a mood
disorder, classified under the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual - IV
TR published by the American Psychiatric Association. The onset of
bipolar affective disorder is generally from late teenage to early
adulthood. Lately however this is evidence to suggest that there could
also be a childhood onset of the condition. A psychiatric condition,
bipolar disorder is often confused with other conditions like
Borderline Personality Disorder or schizophrenia due to an overlap of
certain symptoms. However the primary characteristic of bipolar
disorder is sudden, extreme and often cyclical mood shifts, swinging
between depression and mania. Basically mania is an elevated mood
characterised by euphoria, rapid speech, racing thoughts, decreased
sleep, hyper-activity, increased sense of self-worth, impulsive and
very often reckless behaviour, inappropriate sexual acts,
hallucinations, delusions etc. On the other hand, depression is the
polar opposite with symptoms of extreme lethargy, tiredness, increased
sleep, decreased attention and concentration, increased distractedness,
low self esteem, suicidal ideation etc. Bipolar affective disorder is
very often tricky to diagnose because a lot of the symptoms may seem
like regular mood swings or the result of some other condition. Often
the symptoms are also misdiagnosed. However in order to help with
correct diagnosis, the DSM-IV TR subdivides bipolar affective disorder
into types depending on the intensity |
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