The most important symptoms of bipolar disorder are listed below. If these occur in a multitude, a bipolar disorder can be expected. A doctor should be consulted immediately to avoid a deterioration. A bipolar disorder occurs in 2 forms, a manic phase is distinguished from a depressive phase.
Symptoms of the manic phase:
An overall exaggerated high feeling (euphoria) Clear inner restlessness and excitement Increased activity Increase in performance and creativity Decrease in the need to sleep Clearly increased self-confidence Distance in social interaction Loss of reality and increased risk behavior
- An overall exaggerated elation (euphoria)
- Clear inner restlessness and excitement
- Increased activity
- Increase of efficiency and creativity
- Reduction of the need for sleep
- Significantly increased self-confidence
- Distance in social interaction
- Loss of reality and increased risk behavior
Symptoms of the depressive phase:
Melancholy and depressed mood Withdrawal from social contacts up to isolation Lack of drive and lack of ideas Concentration and attention deficit Increased need for sleep in the sense of a sleep disorder Self-doubt Loss of self-confidence Suicidal thoughts
- Melancholy and depressed mood
- Withdrawal from social contacts to the point of isolation
- Lack of drive and lack of ideas
- Concentration and attention deficit disorder
- Increased need for sleep in the sense of a sleep disorder
- Self-doubt
- Loss of self-confidence
- Suicidal thoughts
Mania:
High spirits: The feeling of high spirits is also known as affectivity. This is the basis for the assignment of the bipolar disorder to the “affective disorders”. The mood high that accompanies a manic phase is usually unfounded and usually appears exaggerated to outsiders.
It manifests itself in the best of moods and a constant cheerfulness. To a large extent, many affected people show a clear overestimation of their own abilities. People in the manic phase usually do not feel ill, guided by this elation, and see no reason for medical-psychological treatment.
Here it is recommended that you also take a look at our main page on mania and therapy of mania:
- What is a mania?
- Therapy of a mania
Irritability: Instead of or in addition to a high mood, some affected people develop a distinct irritability which can end in increased aggressiveness. This is known as “irritable mania“. The transition between these two feelings can take place within a few seconds, for example when a person receives contradiction from familiar people.
A pronounced irritability usually occurs when outsiders point out to the person the need for therapy and a visit to a psychologist. They may recognize aggressiveness in you or in pesons from their environment, but they do not explain it?Accelerated thinking: The thinking of people in the manic phase is often described as fast and erratic. This phenomenon is summarized as flight of ideas.
Affected persons have continuously new ideas, but are quickly distracted by external stimuli or new thoughts. Accelerated thinking is often reflected in faster speech. However, there is often no direct connection between the thoughts and what is being said in speech, which can be very confusing for outsiders.
If this symptom is extreme, one speaks of a confused mania, which continues to be accompanied by disorientation and cognitive deficits. Drive enhancement: Drive enhancement, which is an obligatory part of the manic phase, often appears uncontrolled and aimless from the outside. The affected person usually wants to do numerous things at once and thus merely starts most things before jumping to the next activity again.
Apart from the clearly increased extent of the drive increase, it is to be further delimited by the absence of breaks from a normal behavior. For example, between two activities, eating is forgotten and sleeping times are significantly reduced. Increased creativity: People with bipolar disorder are often said to have increased creativity, which is not least due to world-famous artists who suffered from this disorder.These include Ernest Hemingway, Vincent van Gogh and Hermann Hesse.
The increased creativity is mainly due to the described increase in drive and flood of ideas. However, most creative ideas have only a low artistic-creative quality at the following consideration. It is clear, however, that the creative acting-out as well as the overflowing energy can be channelled and thus those affected can be helped.
In the therapy of bipolar disorder, creative products of the manic phase are usually discussed with the patients to enable them to understand their manic ego. The following articles might also be interesting for you:
- How do I recognize giftedness?
- Problems of giftedness
Self-confidence: The increase in self-confidence during a manic phase can be excessive and ultimately lead to delusions of grandeur. Affected people believe that they can accomplish everything they set out to do and that nothing and no one can stop them.
These thoughts can lead to an increasing loss of reality and can be quite dangerous for those affected. The extent of the increased self-confidence is, as with all other symptoms of mania, very variable and can also vary considerably between individual manic phases. Reduced need for sleep: The need for sleep of people in a manic phase can be significantly reduced.
Thus most of those affected need only three hours of sleep instead of six to seven hours. This is mainly due to the significantly increased drive and flood of ideas that do not allow people to rest. Sleep is regarded by many as a waste of time.
Thus the decreased sleep differs from the depressive phase above all by the fact that the persons can sleep, but do not do this. In the depressive phase, on the other hand, the people affected are usually unable to sleep, even though they try. They can no longer get enough sleep and fear having a sleep disorder? So the following articles could also be important for you:
- What is meant by a sleep disorder?
- Consequences of lack of sleep
All articles in this series:
