What is Bipolar Depression?

Similar to unipolar depression, bipolar depression can be characterized as

• Feelings of hopelessness, pessimism
• Feelings of guilt, worthlessness, helplessness
• Difficulty concentrating
• Loss of interest or pleasure in hobbies and activities that were once enjoyed
• Difficulty sleeping
• Overeating or loss of appetite
• Persistent aches or pains, headaches, cramps or digestive problems that do not ease even with treatment
• Thoughts of suicide, suicide attempts

However, bipolar depression can also include things such as,

• More suicide attempts than with major depressive disorder
• A profound loss of energy
• Severe depression more likely to include psychotic symptoms
• Onset of depression occurs at a younger age
• More likely to have a co-occurring mental illness, such as obsessive-compulsive disorder, panic disorder, or substance abuse
• More likely to have a family history of mania
• More episodes of depression than with unipolar depression
• Use of antidepressant—without mood-stabilizer—may cause hypomania or mania.

bphope.com

Stability,Mania and Depression

When a person suffers from bipolar depression they may change moods infrequently or often. This can be a shift every few months to a shift from moment to moment. According to a contributor at the Mighty named Mimsy Tallent, her stability looked like this,

I felt positive and good about myself without the grandiose thoughts I’ve had so frequently before. I could go shopping without thinking I needed everything I saw and spending hundreds or thousands of dollars at a time. My thoughts weren’t racing too much that I felt like my head was going to explode, and I could easily fall asleep without watching a rerun on television to distract me. In fact, I was sleeping a full eight hours without waking up, and I could easily wake up without being groggy or cranky. (Mimsy Tallent).

Stability looks different for everyone, my stability looks like happiness and activeness. When I feel stable, I feel as if I am a better mother, wife and employee. At the same time, I consider my stable self to be quite boring. I am quiet, I remain introverted and people do not recognize me. However my quietness is deceiving because in my quiet body, my mind is screaming. Racing thoughts plague my brain like a tattoo is to skin. My stability is strange and I do not often experience it.

Mania, I wont go into my own personal experience with hypomania because that is for another blog post but, mania in my own words is your own personal feelings of being a super hero. HYPOmania is when, ,much like a manic phase, you feel a sense of euphoria, a burst in energy and a surge of productivity. Hypomania is a milder form of what is described as Mania.

 

Helpguide.org gives examples of signs and symptoms of mania.

• Feeling unusually “high” and optimistic OR extremely irritable
• Unrealistic, grandiose beliefs about one’s abilities or powers
• Sleeping very little, but feeling extremely energetic
• Talking so rapidly that others can’t keep up
• Racing thoughts; jumping quickly from one idea to the next
• Highly distractible, unable to concentrate
• Impaired judgment and impulsiveness
• Acting recklessly without thinking about the consequences
• Delusions and hallucinations (in severe cases)

PLEASE SHARE YOUR STORIES, EXPERIENCES AND DEFINITIONS IN YOUR OWN WORDS. I WOULD LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU.