Coping with Bipolar disorder

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What is Bipolar disorder (Manic Depressive), it's symptoms and how to recognize parts of this mental illness. Helping a family cope with this debilitating and emotional mood swings of the disease.

Bipolar Disorder also known as Manic Depressive Disorder. It is a condition in which the patient experiences mood swings in extremes. They become what are known as hypo manic and hyper manic. Those are mood swings when they are very up (overly happy) for a period of time and then very depressed (sad) for a period of time.


Currently there is no cure for this mental disorder, but there is help and treatment. Convention treatment still appears to be the most effective form of treating this disorder.



· For a family coping the most important thing to do is get in contact with your local mental health center and join a support group for families.

· The mood swings and constant depressive state often starts to affect the family as a whole. Teens begin to worry that they will grow to “get” this disorder, spouses and children become resentful, then guilty for feeling this way.

· It is important to understand these are all normal emotions to feel. The stress of the situation is simply cause and effect.

· Below will be a list of the most usual symptoms of the depressive part of the disorder disorder.

· Indecisiveness and loss of interests in normal activities

· Feeling or voicing that they are unhappy or sad

· Agitated or irritable

· Sleeping either too much or not enough.

· Problems with concentration and memory

· Weight loss or increase

· NO self-esteem

· Decreased sexual desire

· Despair and hopelessness, helpless

· Suicidal thoughts with or without plans

· Blaming themselves for everything that happens

· Crying episodes, and they cannot tell you why

· Restlessness, constantly on the go or walking around

· Difficulty completing tasks

· Thinking, moving and speaking slowly

· Emotional and/or physical pain real or not

· Fears of illnesses which prove to be psychosomatic

· Feeling dead or detached.

· Hallucinating, hearing, seeing or talking to "voices" only they hear

· The following are a slightly deviated list of the way they would act during a hyper manic episode that can be mixed with the previously named symptoms. After reading you will soon discover why the family goes through such turmoil themselves.

· Creative thinking, increase in activities

· Feelings of elation, exhilaration.

· Inappropriate humor.

· Rapid, pressured speech and thoughts

· Inappropriate behaviors, excitability.

· Impulsive behaviors usually with spending money

· Inflated self-esteem,

· Heightened perceptions, grandiose thinking

· Paranoia, delusions of being persecuted.

· Violent behavior, hostility

· Since this disorder is so expansive it is recommend that the entire family seek counseling. The feelings and emotional well being of the family as a whole should stay intact.

· With proper medication, this disease can be controlled, but as mentioned never cured.