Mental Health How does your bipolar show itself?

[Birc0014]

Dude I dont think anyone was suggesting otherwise, unless I missed something...leads to an interesting thought though...what are people's individual 'triggers'? That's a whole other thread on its own. Cheers for bringing it up!

 

[nuttynutskin]

It's Info like this that makes me question my bipolar 2 diagnoses. It makes me think I'm right in thinking I have borderline only.

I don't believe you have to have all of the things Sprout described to be a rapid-cycler, but I would have to go back and read on it. Haven't really read up on any mental health articles in a while and honestly so many things overlap that most of the time I think it makes more sense to just treat the symptoms instead of trying to fit everything into a neat category.

 

[Sprout]

Turns out I also become an aggressive, pedantic dickhead...
My apologies, Birc.

In terms of 'triggers', I can't think of any for the Major Depressive phases. To me, that was always a defining feature; if I could name a specific event/reason, I was not depressed in the clinical sense.
If I couldn't think of a specific cause, but felt that hollow, icy emptiness consistently - I knew to pay close attention to my behaviour.

Mania, conversely, has innumerable triggers. Sleep deprivation (an awful cycle - lose sleep, become hypomanic, sleep even less, enter Mania, stop sleeping entirely), stress, social issues, interpersonal relationship problems, isolation, medications (SSRI's WILL cause me serious problems), particular drugs (dopaminergic stimulants and dissociatives are my worst enemy), seasonal changes, poor diet.
The list goes on.

 

[aq.]

I don't think that different substances can cause bipolar disorder, but they can trigger or intensify the effects. We've all heard that weed can "cause" or make schizophrenia worse, so I think that's what the poster was trying to get at.

Anyway, back on topic guys...

Spadez87, I was diagnosed with having Bipolar 1, and the way it manifests itself in my personal life is long periods of depression, followed by periods of me being overly happy, buying random shit which pushes me into debt, and just overall doing things that I typically don't do when I feel "stable". It manifests itself differently for each person, so I can only speak on behalf of myself.

Take a look at this from the National Institute of Mental Health about bipolar disorder, it may provide you with some good information.

 

[spemat]

I am hyperactive all the time from ADHD, I grew up with it and in the summers I would just rife a high... like it consumes me, I don't just love it, it literally takes my entire being over. I absolutely feel like i am just filled with joy. That said, I have tons of debt, I change my goals out of nowhere and with me, the state lasts for months and since I usually rarely sleep, I start to hallucinate after awhile but I think it is real. After the crash... the way down is a very dramatic rageful, crying fall, like the world slips away and then it is months of apathy... it no fun. I have been diagnosed with ADHD hyperactive type and bipolar I disorder, manic with psychotic features since I was 6. It is something I just hope stays under the threshold. I like the control when I have it under control. When it flares up, everyone says I go from goofy and hyper to demanding like I am narcissistic or something. I also drop relationships easy. It is humiliating when I come down from that.... hindsight is 20/20