Previously Known as Manic Depression
Generally:
Bipolar syndrome or disorder was formerly known as Manic Depression. It is a recognised mental health condition where the sufferers get the most incredible mood swings.
People with the condition can go from massive highs and lows in their emotional state.
Bipolar disorder is a lifelong condition but can be treated successfully with medication and psychological counselling.
Mood swings can happen anytime, where you can feel depressed, unhappy, or downhearted and lose interest in almost everything. Those mood shifts can go from mania or Hypomania (less extreme than mania) to euphoria, being full of beans, or being unusually irritable. These mood swings affect sleep, energy, activity, judgement, behaviour, and thinking ability.
It is more common to start at the young ages between 15 and 25, with an average of about 1 in 50 people affected. It rarely continues after the age of 50 years also. There are many contributing factors to the onset of a Bipolar diagnosis.
The Highs and Lows of anyone with Bipolar Disorder can be attributable to genetics. If you have had a parent with a severe mental illness, there is a one in three chance that you may develop a mental illness.
