Things People With Bipolar Disorder Want You to Know

It’s common practice in today’s society to use the term bipolar to describe everything from when a person changes their mind to the weather. Sadly, this overuse perpetuates a lot of misconceptions about bipolar disorder and mental health issues in general. For everyone dealing with this condition, their experiences are authentic. Here are things people with bipolar disorder want you to know.

Bipolar is not ‘just mood swings’

Bipolar is a mood disorder, but it is not just a case of having mood swings, which everybody experiences from time to time. For example, during a mood swing, you might become highly irritable, get upset over trivial things, and snap at your loved ones. During a manic episode, someone with bipolar may lose control of their thoughts and actions and even lose touch with reality.

People with bipolar disorder experience quite extreme changes in mood, energy, activity, and sleep, which are not their typical modes of behavior. Being “manic” is not just being loud, excitable and happy. While experiencing mania, a person may feel very good, have lots of energy, and be able to go without sleeping for long periods. While this might sound all right, mania can also be a highly uncomfortable and unpleasant experience characterized by feeling out of control.

For someone with bipolar, mood changes are often very severe, varying from excitement and elation to depression and despair. Each mood can last several weeks, and there might be long stable periods in between. As with all mental health issues, mood changes should be taken seriously and not oversimplified or stigmatized as ‘just mood swings’.

Bipolar is a chronic illness

Like heart disease or diabetes, bipolar disorder is a condition that requires ongoing treatment. But, also like heart disease and diabetes, it is highly treatable. Bipolar is an illness that can be controlled, and being diagnosed with bipolar does not mean you have to have your life taken over by a mental illness. Bipolar disorder has a very high recovery rate if the person is proactive about managing the illness.

Things People With Bipolar Disorder Want You to Know

Bipolar disorder is a legitimate condition, not a catchphrase

It’s sunny outside then all of a sudden it starts to rain? BAM! Bipolar. Your wife got upset because you didn’t take the trash out after she asked 1.234 times? BAM! Bipolar. STOP. IT. It is offensive to the individuals living with this condition, but it also undermines its legitimacy. Ultimately, it causes delays in getting treatment and limits support resources.

People with bipolar disorder don’t continuously bounce from one extreme to the other

Individuals who have the subset bipolar disorder II don’t experience full manic episodes. At the same time, bipolar disorder includes episodes of both mania and depression.

People with bipolar disorder are not always experiencing symptoms

Individuals with bipolar disorder do experience periods of extreme changes in mood and energy levels, but not around the clock.
First, these shifts are called “episodes”—and there are a few different types:

• Mania: A manic episode is typically characterized by having high energy and activity levels, a reduced need for sleep, and/or feeling confident or euphoric. However, someone in a manic episode may also feel irritable and agitated while also being energized.
• Hypomania: This is a less severe version of mania but still presents generally as high energy and activity while feeling as if you don’t require sleep.
• Depression: A depressive episode may cause a person to feel sad or down, fatigued, or they may have difficulty concentrating or thinking about death or suicide.
• Mixed: A mixed episode means that a person is experiencing a manic or depressive episode with some symptoms of the opposite mood state at the same time.

The types of episodes that you go through depend on whether you have bipolar I or II (the two main types, although there are other conditions related to bipolar disorder). And, how a person feels or acts during their bipolar episodes (and the length of them) can vary greatly and be quite subjective. (Mood episodes generally last at least a week.)

But bipolar episodes, regardless of what types affect you, are interspersed with periods without any symptoms—which is important to remember.

One time, when I shared that I had bipolar disorder, someone said, “That explains why you’re so happy all the time!”- Wrong! I’m a bubbly person—that’s my personality. But [I can also be] frantic, I overthink, and I definitely put on a mask that I have it all together. That right there is my bipolar disorder. Don’t confuse the two.”

No two people experience bipolar disorder in the same way

How bipolar episodes cycle and present for an individual depends on all kinds of things. It depends on the person, age, illness severity, which medications they are being treated with now, which medications they were treated with previously, whether they are taking their medications—all sorts of factors.
So, as you can imagine, bipolar disorder can be very complex to treat and manage.

You can’t simply snap out of a mood episode

If someone is already in full mania/hypomania or depression, medication is needed to treat symptoms. One cannot pull oneself out of a mood episode. Sometimes people will have this awareness that they are in or near an episode, but not all the time depending on the person’s level of awareness and familiarity with their symptoms as well as the severity and this may affect whether or not they have the awareness to then take their medication.

Some medications for bipolar disorder can treat mania, hypomania, and depression, while other drugs only treat certain episode types or combinations. Some medications can prevent symptoms from becoming a full episode if taken in time.

In many cases, a person will exhibit similar early signs when a mood episode is coming on.
For example: changes in their voice, they start sleeping less or more, Feeling very up, high, elated, or extremely irritable or touchy, and they are dressing differently, Talking very slowly, feeling unable to find anything to say, or forgetting a lot, and many more symptoms.
So ideally a person is somewhat familiar with those initial symptoms and can recognize them and implement the appropriate treatment before they tip into a full episode.

Like all of us, for a person with bipolar, their mood can change before they’re necessarily even aware of it. It’s called insight. The level of insight is variable but it tends to be that people who have insight during their early episodes keep that insight, and those who don’t have that insight are less likely to have it moving forward. This is where therapy plays an important role because it helps teach a person with bipolar disorder how to spot and manage those early symptoms.

Bipolar disorder is something you have to learn to manage for the rest of your life

Bipolar is a lifelong diagnosis that starts usually in the late teens or early 20s. And, ideally, very soon after those first mood-elevated episodes, that person is getting word from the appropriate experts and clinicians that they are at risk for the rest of their lives of having another episode.
So, a person with bipolar will very likely be on medication and working with a therapist throughout their life. The symptoms don’t magically disappear because I go to therapy, have medication and I’ve taken the time and effort to develop coping mechanisms. There is no cure for Bipolar Disorder. There is management. There is understanding your triggers.

It can be hard for someone with bipolar disorder to talk about it openly

I’d say the most frustrating thing is that I feel like I cannot admit to having bipolar disorder to anyone. People are so afraid to just talk about it. But, talking about it can help the people close to us to understand the disorder better. In turn, they can provide the support needed along the way. People with bipolar disorder know it’s difficult at times to be present, especially during episodes. Understanding how the condition affects your loved one can help.

Bipolar disorder isn’t about a lack of motivation and self-discipline

If all it took was the right motivation and level of self-discipline to “snap out” of this condition, you better believe it would be so. Bipolar disorder is a medical condition resulting from chemical and structural brain changes. It requires treatment to help manage symptoms.

A recent study reported that those of us with bipolar disorder are significantly more sedentary than those who do not have the disorder. Health professionals recommend 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity per week. We of the bipolar persuasion sit on our duffs for 78% of the day while “nonusers of mental health services” are sedentary for only 59% of the day.

I get it…the numbers don’t lie. But, I’d like to let those researchers in on a little secret: we aren’t sitting around in a completely dulled state. More often than not, our minds are going 300,000 miles per minute thinking of project after project; worrying about the past; projecting into the future, and wishing more than anything that the pesky hamster taking speed, who continuously runs on the wheel inside our heads, would take a friggin’ nap already!

Wanna know why we are in a dulled state? Oh right, could it be the multitude of medications we are on? 🙂

Bipolar disorder deserves to be taken as seriously as any other chronic health condition

Bipolar disorder is a disease that is serious and deadly just like cancer and heart disease. People don’t understand that and dismiss the disorder as something that is easy to fix or get over…it’s not.

We can (and do!) live normal lives

Bipolar disorder is very treatable, and symptoms can be managed with the right combination of medication, therapy, and other interventions. It can be challenging, but many go on to live typical everyday, fulfilling lives.

Do I have bad days or bad weeks? Yes. Do I have extreme differences between my moments and my days? Yes. Is it sometimes impossible for me to get out of bed, get dressed, or even talk to people? Yes, yes, and yes.

Am I crazy? Absolutely not. 🙂

Most people who know me would never guess that I suffer from a mental illness. It’s not because I hide it. I am very open about my disorder, but it is because I manage it.

Every day I write in a journal how I am feeling. I don’t bottle anything up. I have found positive ways of coping. Including meditation, playing games, writing, music, reading, retreating from social interaction (because sometimes I just wanna be left alone), and watching movies or series.

If you are struggling with multiple personalities or severe mood changes, don’t give up. Your life WILL get better. I promise. Reach out to people you know who can help keep you grounded. Find enjoyment in the little things. Sing at the top of your lungs. Take a risk.

Always remember:

You are not crazy! You are not broken! You are not alone! ♥ 🙂

Note: I do not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Any information published on this website is not intended as a substitute for medical advice, and you should not take any action before consulting with a healthcare professional.

Photo by taylor gregory on Unsplash