Bipolar disorder is a serious mental disorder causing drastic alteration in a person's mood, behaviour, attention span and energy levels. It most commonly affects individual in late teens and early adulthood. Usually, there occurs a radical change between manic and depressive states. People who experience mania may not experience depression.

Individuals feel exceptionally excited or energized and are more active than usual during manic episode. They feel extremely happy as described by themselves. At times, they may behave impulsively. Individuals feel hopeless, sad or down and are less active than usual during a depressive episode. They take a little or interest in things happening around. People may behave comparatively normal between manic and depressive episodes. An episode may last from a few weeks to few months. Bipolar disorder can’t be cured but its symptoms can be managed by adopting lifestyle changes, therapy and medications.

Bipolar disorder symptoms and treatment

Symptoms Of Manic Episode

  • Irritable mood
  • Increased energy level
  • Quick to anger
  • Acting in very silly way
  • Lack of concentration

Symptoms Of Depression Episode

  • Lack of interest in regular activities
  • Change in sleeping pattern
  • Change in eating habits
  • Severe headache
  • Thinking about death or suicide

Bipolar Disorder And Associated Heath Conditions

Certain co-morbid health conditions related to bipolar disorder are:

Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

One of the most common and closely linked disorders of bipolar disorder is attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, also called ADHD. A health condition that affects young children, it can continue till adulthood. The disorder is characterized by excessive inattention, hyperactivity, and obsessive-compulsive behaviour. Extreme levels of ADHD can cause mental imbalances.

Delusions

Sometimes people who have severe depressive episodes with bipolar may display psychotic behavior. Hallucinations or delusions are common during such episodes. In such cases, a person may imagine false scenarios like they have lost a family member, have got some powers, are being chased, or can be killed.

Eating Disorders

Another co-morbid disorder related to bipolar is abnormal eating patterns. These can be in form of anorexia where the patient is afraid of gaining weight, so they keep calorie intake extremely low by eating bare minimum food. The other type can be a binge eating disorder when the person consumes unusually large amounts of food and lose control over the calorie consumption.

Treatments

Medications like antidepressant drugs, antipsychotic drugs, mood stabilizers and anti-anxiety drugs may be recommended by doctor to treat bipolar disorder. Medication may vary from person to person. Therapy can be an important method of treatment for teen suffering from bipolar disorder which includes psychotherapy (involving cognitive behavioral therapy), inter-personal therapy and family-focused therapy.

Behavioral patterns can be well-understood by therapy methods which help in understanding e routine and management of individual. Teenagers in general undergoes a variety of changes due to puberty and hormonal shift. This makes it significantly important to carefully monitor the teen and not mistake mood swings for bipolar disorder symptoms.