Depressive episodes can include symptoms such as lack of energy, low motivation, and loss of interest in daily activities. Mood episodes last for days to months at a time and may also be associated with suicidal thoughts. Treatment usually lasts a lifetime and often involves a combination of medication and psychotherapy. However, the right treatment can make a big difference.
There are many types of therapies for bipolar depression that work very well. What else helps? Keep track of your symptoms over time. That can help you know when a mood change is coming so you can handle it soon. Bipolar disorder is a mental health condition characterized by extreme changes in mood.
Some factors associated with bipolar disorder include a family history of bipolar disorder or other mental illnesses, unique features of brain structure, highly stressful events, brain chemical imbalance affecting mood regulation, and a history of abuse or trauma. Bipolar disorder is a brain disorder that causes changes in a person's mood, energy, and ability to function. People with bipolar disorder are more likely to have thyroid disease, migraines, heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and other physical illnesses. Mental health providers use the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) to diagnose the type of bipolar disorder a person may be experiencing.
People with bipolar disorder struggle daily with the unpredictable and often confusing characteristics of this complex mental health disorder. Learning more about these differences can help scientists understand bipolar disorder and determine which treatments will work best. The person may not feel that something is wrong, but family and friends may recognize changes in mood or activity levels as a possible bipolar disorder. In addition, these changes are often not accompanied by the extreme degree of behavior change or difficulty with daily routines and social interactions that people with bipolar disorder demonstrate during mood episodes.
Lithium was included as the third arm of an acute bipolar depression trial designed primarily to test quetiapine, with little benefit (Table (Young et al. For example, antidepressants that healthcare providers prescribe to treat obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and stimulants they prescribe to treat ADHD can worsen symptoms of bipolar disorder and even trigger a manic episode. It seems prudent that antidepressants, especially tricyclics and some SNRIs, be used with great caution for bipolar depression, especially in patients with BD-I, and may be avoided altogether with a history of mood swings during antidepressant treatment, the rapid cycle without antidepressant treatment, or if mixed symptoms are present (Tondo et al. People with bipolar II disorder often have other mental illnesses, such as an anxiety disorder or substance use disorder, the latter of which can exacerbate symptoms of depression or hypomania.
A diagnosis of bipolar II disorder requires a person to have at least one major depressive episode and at least one hypomanic episode (see above). Using the DSM-5, patient interview, and various diagnostic evaluation tools, the mental health professional can identify the specific type of bipolar disorder present. Bipolar disorder (formerly called manic-depressive illness or manic depression) is a mental disorder that causes unusual changes in mood, energy, activity levels, concentration, and ability to perform daily tasks. .
