By Dr Prashant Shah , Psychiatry

Bipolar disorder is also known as manic depression. It is characterized by extreme mood swings in which you feel both emotional highs such as mania or hypomania but you also feel depressed at different times. There is no particular time at which your mood swings may occur but they may occur anytime between only a few times in a year all the way to several times every week. Here is everything you need to know about bipolar disorder…

Symptoms-

As mentioned earlier, bipolar disorder has either a very euphoric or a very depressed episode in which your behavior will be drastically different from what it normally was. Here are the symptoms of each episode…

Manic Episode:

1. Arrogance which was not present before

2. Excessively talking

3. Sleeping less

4. Many thoughts

5. Not being able to focus

6. Excessively focused on social, sexual or work-related goals

7. Generally uncharacteristic behavior

Depressed Episode:

1. Feeling fatigued all the time

2. Irritability

3. Sad or tearful mood

4. Weight loss without dieting

5. Sleeping excessively

6. Thoughts of death or suicide

Causes-

1. Biological Reasons

Studies show that people who have bipolar disorder have significant changes in the neurotransmitters of their brains.

2. Inheritance

It is very common to inherit traits from a sibling or parent as well.

Treatment-

1. Medications:

There are various medications which can be given. These include mood stabilizers, antidepressants and even antipsychotics.

2. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy:

Cognitive behavioral therapy helps you channel unhealthy negative thoughts and turn them into rewarding positive ones.

3. ECT:

An ECT stands for electroconvulsive therapy. It is when electrical currents are passed through the brain. This is usually done as a last resort.