Many people believe manic depression and bipolar disorder are two separate mental health conditions. However, this is not the case. Manic depression was the original name for bipolar disorder, a term that better captures the broad spectrum of emotional highs and lows associated with the condition.
What Is Bipolar Disorder?
Bipolar disorder involves significant shifts in your mood, energy levels, activity and sleep patterns that typically last days or weeks.
Today, mental health professionals recognize four types of bipolar disorder, each characterized by distinct patterns of mood episodes that can disrupt daily life.
- Bipolar I: People with bipolar I go through one or more manic episodes. Most people also experience depression, though periods of low mood are not necessary to receive an official diagnosis. Manic episodes in bipolar I must last at least seven days or be severe enough to require hospitalization.
- Bipolar II: Characteristics include alternating depression and hypomania, involving less severe symptoms of mania that do not meet the criteria for a full manic episode.
- Cyclothymia: People with this type experience recurring hypomania and mild depressive symptoms for at least two years, less severe than those seen in bipolar I or II.
- Mixed features: This category includes significant mood elevation and disruption, often occurring simultaneously, that do not meet the criteria for one of the other types of bipolar disorder.
Bipolar Symptoms
During a manic episode, you may feel unusually important, powerful or elated, often paired with a decreased need for sleep. Mania can also cause you to be abnormally talkative and full of unrealistic ideas, with an intense drive for pleasurable activities like eating, sex or substance abuse.
Depressive episodes may make you feel sad, hopeless, anxious, fatigued and forgetful. You might lose interest in formerly enjoyable hobbies, become withdrawn from friends and family and have frequent thoughts of self-harm or suicide.
These drastic mood swings can significantly impair your ability to function in daily life, making bipolar disorder a challenging condition to manage without appropriate treatment.
The Connection Between Bipolar Disorder and Addiction
Mental health disorders like bipolar disorder often overlap with addiction, a phenomenon known as dual diagnosis. People with bipolar disorder may self-medicate their complex symptoms with alcohol or drugs. Unfortunately, using these substances to cope will worsen your condition, creating a dangerous cycle that can be difficult to break.
Hope by the Sea understands the challenges of living with bipolar disorder and addiction. Our holistic, family-owned treatment center in California offers tailored treatment tracks to address each client’s unique needs, combining evidence-based therapies with compassionate care that allows you to heal and thrive.
Through dual-diagnosis treatment, we will help you uncover the root causes of your substance use and learn to manage your mental health, putting you on the road to recovery. Don’t struggle in silence anymore. Contact us today to request help.
