A Look At Manic Depressive Symptoms

Manic depression is a very strange mental condition that many adolescents suffer from. On average, most people will suffer from a manic depressive episode before reaching adulthood. The problem is that some people do not seem to go beyond that phase and therefore suffer from this condition more than others. Also known as bipolar disorder, there is only one way to spot this condition and that is through its symptoms.

How To Spot It

There are two major things that one has to keep in mind about sufferers of bipolar disorder and that is that they are either feeling manic or they are feeling depressed. The frequency of these interchanging episodes should be enough to tell a professional if someone indeed is suffering from manic depression or not. So, to really get to know the episodes, one has to know the symptoms or signs that represent those episodes.

Mania

Mania is basically a feeling that you get that encourages you to feel elevated and irritable. Basically, one who experiences mania also experiences an increase in energy and finds that the need to rest is even less than usual. Speech patterns are also affected because of a sufferer’s thoughts that can only be described as more rapid than usual. Basically, the signs that a person is experiencing mania is as follows: that person feels irritable and angry; he or she thinks and talks so fast that people can hardly catch up or understand; the person has no need for sleep; the person feels either powerful or important; the sufferer has trouble concentrating; he or she starts to spend too much money impulsively; and the abuse of drugs and alcohol may be apparent.

Depression

A depressed state is a condition where the sufferer may feel the exact opposite of mania. In bipolar disorder, depression shows in the persistent feeling of sadness, guilt, and anger. Other feelings of isolation and anxiety are also more apparent. Basically, a person who suffers from depression exhibits the following: no interest in things that used to be enjoyed; sadness or numbness; crying for no apparent reason; feelings of worthlessness; changes in appetite; trouble in decision-making; memory loss; headaches; thoughts about death and suicide; and the feeling of being tired all of the time.

It is the interchanging of these moods in a person that make up the condition manic depression or bipolar disorder, which is what it is now more popularly known as. This can be a very dangerous condition but one which can be treated by a specialist or even the family doctor, granted he or she is trained to address this condition.

The condition is treated medically through the different medicines that address the mood swings and also through therapy and counseling that can help ease the stress and relationship problems that the sufferer may be experiencing. It is not advisable that a person who suffers from it try and get through the condition alone. This is the sort of condition that needs guidance from a doctor or even a support group that can share information on how to deal with the problem.