Learning about Bipolar or Borderline disorder.

Hello everyone in this great community, let me share basic knowledge of what we most undergo in our day to day activities, some might have the thought that bipolar is a bad thing or something terrible, but that's not the case, this disorderliness can be caused by a great many things we didn't pay attention to, on this post I will share some light regarding the knowledge about bipolar disorderliness.

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Introduction to Bipolar or borderline disorder

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Have you ever heard or gotten worried about what bipolar disorder is? many of us might probably be thinking- oh yeah I know what that is, it's a mental disorder when someone is crazy, yeah you're right, but what if I told you it's much more than just being crazy. You might have a mental disorder or anyone around you might have this disorder, it takes a very long time to figure out if someone has bipolar disorder.

Bipolar disorder is a mental health situation where a person experiences extreme mood swings and an extreme and intense emotional state that occurs at a distinct time eg manic, hypomanic, and major depression. The emotional mood swings might occur rarely or could happen multiple times a year and why most people might experience emotional symptoms while many might not even but as a matter of fact, approximately 1% of the population over 15 years of age has been diagnosed across the globe and its take about 10years for a person to find out if they are bipolar.

In this piece, I will be explaining what bipolar disorder is, the signs of bipolar disorder, the three types of bipolar disorder, causes, diagnostic techniques, and treatment. This article contains a sensitive topic intended only for educational purposes and should not be used as a diagnosis. Please consult any professional healthcare if you have or think you might have this disorder.

^{Imge Illustration Of a bipolar disorder - Link}

WHAT IS BIPOLAR DISORDER? - Bipolar disorder is a brain disorder that drives emotional highs eg manic(feeling extremely high) or hypomanic(similar to manic expect is less severe) and emotional lows eg Depression (feeling extremely down) to a person.

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The diagrams above show bipolar disorder i.e. two opposite poles of manic and depressive mood. A stable (normal)mood is the appropriate state of mind.

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Both manic and depression stages can differ in duration and intensity depending on the types of diagnosis. It has been demonstrated that individuals with Bipolar disorder invest more time in the depressive phase than the manic phase.

Several conditions can sometimes be confused with bipolar disorder.

• Bipolar disorder or borderline disorder
• Borderline personality disorder
• Schizoaffective disorder or schizophrenia disorder

• Bipolar disorder is characterized by
  1. Mood disorder.
  2. No schizophrenic symptoms.

• A borderline personality disorder is characterized by
  1. Personality disorder.
  2. No schizophrenia symptoms.

• Schizoaffective disorder is characterized by
  1. Mood disorder
  2. Schizophrenia symptoms such as hallucinations or delusions.

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Schizophrenia: is a disorder that impacts an individual's capacity to think, feel, and act clearly. People with Bipolar disorder can have manic (or hypomania), or severe Depression. Manic and hypomanic are two distinct types of mood disorders but they have the same symptoms, manic is more severe than hypomanic. Manic causes more observable problems to day-to-day activities and relationships, manic also triggers psychosis(a break from reality which can then require hospitalization).

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Bipolar SYMPTOMS

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Symptoms of bipolar disorder are extreme, to be categorized as manic, hypomanic, or depression, more of the following symptoms must be present.

Manic and hypomanic have identical symptoms just that manic is more severe.

• Racing thoughts
• Abnormally upbeat, jumpy, or wired
• unusual talkative
• exaggerated sense of well-being and self-confidence (euphoria)
• increased activity, energy, or agitation
• Decreased need for sleep
• Distraction
• poor and Impulsive decision-making.

DEPRESSION - Depression is on the other end of the mood scope. Depression causes noticeable difficulty in day-to-day activities and relationships, symptoms are;

• thinking about planning or attempting suicide
• fatigue or loss of energy
• Restlessness or slow behavior
• depressed mood such as feeling sad, empty, hopeless, or feeling tiredness
• insomnia (inability to fall asleep) or sleeping too much
• significant weight loss or weight gain
• Marked loss of interest or feeling no pleasure in all/almost all activities

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There are 3 main types of bipolar disorder which are

• bipolar disorder 1
• bipolar disorder 11
• cyclothymia disorder.

Bipolar disorder 1 - people with Bipolar disorder 1 experience at least one Manic episode, they have never experienced hypomanic. A major depressive episode isn't needed for the Bipolar disorder1 diagnosis although many individuals with Bipolar disorder1 have experienced at least one Significant Depressive episode eventually in their lives.
As you can see in the diagram above, the blue sinusoidal shows bipolar disorder having a characteristic of mania and severe depression.

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bipolar disorder11 - bipolar disorder11 is a separate diagnosis and not a milder form of Bipolar disorder1.
Individuals with Bipolar disorder11 can be depressed for longer periods. The green sinusoidal from the diagram above shows that individuals with Bipolar disorder11 have either severe depression which can occur for longer periods or hypomanic episodes. The principal contrast between bipolar 1 and bipolar 2 issues lies in the severity of the manic episodes brought about by each sort.

cyclothymia disorder - This occurs at least 2years in adults or 1year I. children and teenagers. They have many periods of hypomanic and depressive episodes. The purple sinusoidal shows that individuals with cyclothymia do not meet the criteria for manic episodes or major depressive episodes. Cyclothymia disorder can lead to bipolar disorder1 and bipolar disorder11, at this stage proper medical care is advised.

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Causes - cause for bipolar disorder1 could be;
a) environment factors such as high period of stress, too much love for money, peer group, death of loved ones, traumatic event, drug or alcohol abuse, etc

b) biological and genetic - some studies are trying to find genes causing bipolar disorder. The study of individual brains shows that people with Bipolar disorder have physical changes in their brains.

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Diagonsis

It is important to consult certificated health care professionals for proper diagnosis, DSM-5 (Diagnostic and Statistics Manual of Mental disorder) is a list of criteria and symptoms that patients must meet before they can be diagnosed with bipolar disorder or any other mental disorder.

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TREATMENT

a) - medical treatment such as pinpointing (by physicians) mood stabilizers to control disorders eg anti-anxiety pills,anti-psychotic pills,anti-depressants pills, etc

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b) - psychotherapy: involves patients talking to a mental health professional about their reflections, feeling, moods and behavior. This could also be in form of cognitive-behavioral therapy.Note - Consult professional healthcare for proper treatment

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CONCLUSION

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Bipolar disorder is a mental situation that can affect one day to day activities, concentration, and ability to achieve one's goals. There is at least 20%of an person having bipolar disorder, with a correct diagnosis, Knowing the type of bipolar disorder an individual has, will aid the type of treatment and how to help and/or manage those people with this disorder.

This piece will also create awareness as well as self-awareness for appropriate measures and consistent medical check-ups.

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REFERENCES LINK BELOW;

Link1

LINK2

LINK3

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