“Oh, they’re just being bipolar right now,” is a sentence that has crept into our language to describe someone that runs hot and cold. While there may be a touch of truth in there, it hardly paints a clear picture about what is a very serious mental health issue.
To help shed some much-needed light on bipolar disorder, which affects more people than you might think, the team here at the Institute for Advanced Psychiatry, under the experienced guidance of Dr. Diana Ghelber, presents the following information.
We hinted that bipolar disorder is more common than you might think, and we want to illustrate this with some numbers. In the United States, nearly 3% of adults report bipolar disorder within the past year, and the lifetime prevalence is about 4.4%.
On a global scale, about 40 million people are living with bipolar disorder.
The average age of onset for bipolar disorder is 25. Rarely, it can affect teens and even kids, but it’s mostly an adult issue.
While bipolar has worked its way into our vernacular to describe someone who has mood swings, the problem is far more serious than that.
With bipolar disorder, people can experience intense and severe episodes of mania, followed or preceded by prolonged bouts of depression.
There are different types of bipolar disorder, but a majority of people (83%) fall into Type 1. With Type 1 bipolar disorder, there’s a manic episode that lasts for at least a week and is often severe enough to require hospitalization, with depressive episodes that occur either before or afterward.
For people with lesser types of bipolar disorder, the symptoms aren’t as severe, but they do involve persistent shifts in moods.
While many of us understand the depressive symptoms, the mania is less understood. This key aspect of bipolar disorder is the true hallmark of the condition, and it’s much more than just feeling elated and energetic.
People in a manic episode can become erratic, unreasonable, and irritable. Sometimes, they engage in risky behaviors, and they won’t listen to reason.
People with bipolar disorder can also have hypomanic episodes, which aren’t as severe, but they still contrast with the depressive episodes enough that life can become an uncomfortable roller-coaster of moods.
As we mentioned, most people with bipolar disorder find their lives are disrupted in significant ways by the condition.
The good news is that we can help to regulate the moods and keep you on a more even keel with:
As well, we work with you to find lifestyle changes that can also make a big difference, such as engaging in exercise or using deep breathing exercises for centering.
Our goal is to get you on a more stable mood path so that you can lead a happy and productive life, despite your bipolar disorder diagnosis.
If you have more questions about bipolar disorder or you’d like to learn more about your treatment options, we invite you to contact our office in Fort Worth, Texas, to schedule an appointment.
