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Bipolar Disorder
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What
is Bipolar Disorder?
"Bi" means two, and "polar", like the north and south
poles, means extreme opposites. So if you have bipolar
disorder you will experience extremes in mood.
Its full name is Bipolar Affective Disorder with the affective
bit meaning your mood. The extremes can involve a "high"
mood, sometimes called mania, and/or very low moods or
depression. It is normal for your mood to go up and down,
but in Bipolar Disorder the changes are more extreme.
Often between the highs and lows, a person experiencing
Bipolar Disorder may feel okay.
What happens when you're high?
People experience things differently
but examples of some ways you may feel or behave are:
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Feeling like nothing can beat you and you are
on top of the world |
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Feeling restless and overactive |
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Not wanting or needing sleep |
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Being very easily distracted |
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Becoming easily irritated and feeling angry, showing
aggression and blaming others |
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Engaging in risk taking activity a lot, like driving
really dangerously, drinking heaps of alcohol or
having unsafe sex |
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Becoming more impulsive, for example spending
loads of money, sometimes building up big credit
bills |
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Feeling as though your thoughts are racing, talking
really quickly, talking rubbish and switching topics
a lot in conversation |
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Believing that you are special or able to do special
things that you may not really be able to do. You
may even think you have special powers or relationships
with important or famous people when this is not
really true |
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Suddenly having heaps of energy to pursue goals.
These goals are often unrealistic. |
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Suddenly feeling like you have lots of great ideas
and full of creativity |
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You may start believing things, which people around
you don't agree with and which don't make sense.
You may also hear or see things that other people
don't |
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When you are high it may be tricky to realise
that things are not as good as they seem to you.
It is often difficult when people start saying it
is an illness especially if you feel great, energetic
and full of ideas. This makes getting help really
hard sometimes. |
What happens when you are "low"?
Some signs of the depression that
is low mood might be:
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Loss of interest in just about everything (mates,
sports, hobbies etc.) |
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Feeling tired all the time and having little energy |
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Losing or putting on weight |
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Being forgetful |
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Can't concentrate |
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Tense muscles and headaches or other pains and
aches you can not explain |
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Feeling stink. Feeling worthless, hopeless and
full of negative stuff |
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Sometimes feeling like you can't go on and want
to die |
Different people have different experiences of highs and
lows in Bipolar Disorder. Some young people have lots
of highs with few (if any) lows, whereas others often
have lows and may only have had one high period. Some
people have very clear patterns of high following low
or the other way round.
How does Bipolar Disorder develop?
Around 1 in every 100 people develop bipolar affective
disorder. We don't know for sure but we do know that you
are more likely to experience Bipolar if someone in your
family has had similar problems. It is thought that an
imbalance of brain chemicals may be responsible and also
that hormones may play a part in its development in adolescence.
Professionals talk about a "stress vulnerability" model,
which means that some people are more vulnerable because
of things like their genes, brain chemistry or whatever
and the disorder then develops if you get really stressed.
It is important to remember that it is not your fault
and it is not a sign of being punished or weakness.
So if you have Bipolar Disorder,
what can you do about it?
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Learn about it and how it affects you |
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Look after yourself |
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Be kind to yourself and don't be hard on yourself
for having bipolar disorder |
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Get some professional support |
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Talk to someone who understands and can help you |
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Taking medication where it is advised |
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Learning how to manage stress and making sure
you spend some time relaxing and resting |
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Looking after your physical health. Healthy body
= healthy mind you know! |
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Spotting your own "early warning signs" of when
you may be going high or low |
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Identifying someone you trust to help set limits
when you are in a high phase |
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Some people find a support group of people experiencing
or who have experienced similar feelings as you |
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Sometimes the mood may be so extreme that a brief
period in hospital may be the best thing to do.
This is usually when the things someone is thinking
or doing is putting them at risk of harm. |
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If you get down as part of a bipolar Disorder,
it may be useful to read the Depression
pages of this website to get more information about
this. |
Who can help?
In the first instance talking to someone you trust is
the key. So this may be a teacher, family doctor, school
counsellor or minister and they may offer you the support
you need to decide what is best to do.
We think that if you, or someone you know, has possibly
developed Bipolar Disorder, it is important to see a mental
health professional as soon as possible. This may sound
scary, but actually professionals like psychologists,
nurses, occupational therapists, psychiatrists and social
workers are just people who have special training to understand
disorders like this so can offer the best advice. Talk
to your family doctor or school counsellor about how to
access these professionals.
You may want to check out the following links to find
out more about Bipolar Disorder.
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