Bipolarity: myths and truths about this disorder

Being bipolar means, in a colloquial sense, having a changeable mood, going from sadness to joy, and from joy to anger, on the subject of trifles, in a matter of a few minutes, impulsively and unpredictably, throughout the day.

Being bipolar implies, also in its most popular meaning, going from love to hatred in social relationships. In short, it is synonymous with great emotional instability and sudden changes in the person's behavior that confuse everyone.

Well... Nothing could be further from the truth. I clarified earlier that the description was in a "colloquial sense", that is, what ordinary people, in general, "believe" it is to be bipolar. However, bipolarity has to be understood as a concept linked to what is known as bipolar disorder.

The purpose of this article is to describe some typical behavioral manifestations of bipolar disorder that can help the rapid and effective recognition of the disorder by family or friends of the affected person, facilitating appropriate consultation with a specialist in mental health.

It may interest you: "Bipolar Disorder: 10 little-known characteristics and curiosities"

What is Bipolar Disorder?

Bipolar disorder is a rare and quite disabling disorder in many respects, which returns the ungovernable state of mind of the person who suffers from it, but that has nothing to do with the now.

It is actually a mixed disorder, combining episodes of profound depression, which can last for months, with episodes of mania, which usually last for days or weeks.

Mania in bipolarity

We all know roughly what is depression: a mood disorder in which sadness, frustration or inability to experience feelings related to joy is disabling for the person who experiences it. Now, what is mania? Well, nothing more and nothing less than a state of exacerbated joy.

During the cycle of depression, the bipolar person feels sunk in the deepest and darkest of abysses. In severe cases, he even loses interest in basic survival issues, such as eating; and even less do you feel like taking a bath, going to work or going out with friends. He is in a helpless and hopeless state where nothing makes sense.

But when the person with bipolar disorder recovers from sadness, invariably goes to the other extreme, to the pathological joy commonly called mania. Hence the term "bipolar."

A person in a manic state feels euphoric, overflowing with energy, which leads him to commit all kinds of recklessness and excesses. In episodes of mania, the course of thought accelerates, as does verbal fluency, which often becomes verbiage. unstoppable, in which it is very common the lack of a guideline in the discourse, the association of distant ideas with regard to arbitrary links or personal meaning, childish jokes and misplaced jokes, which the individual does not manage to recognize as such, considering them as extremely fun.

The consequences of the manic stage in Bipolar Disorder

When mania sets in, the whole behavior is disorganized. Excess vitality makes the person not feel the need to sleep and launches into a rampant sociability that leads to make friends with ease everywhere, and to attend in a marathon way all kinds of parties and events that find.

Indiscriminate sexual relations without any type of protection are also frequent since a certain sense of courage and invulnerability appears. There are even cases of people who, being heterosexual in a normal state, embark on relationships homosexuals prompted by sheer curiosity, and the overwhelming need to explore new experiences that make circulate the adrenalin through your bloodstream.

All kinds of risk behaviors appear in this disease, at the same time as the capacity for self-criticism or self control crashes. Substance abuse such as alcohol or drugs, reckless speed driving, and the defiance or contempt of any form of authority in rigor of a strong feeling of omnipotence.

It is for that reason that from joy to suspicion, paranoia and open hostility towards others, there is only one step in cases in which bipolar disorder goes through the phase of mania. It is common for the person to misinterpret ambiguous comments that others may make, understanding that they are personal offenses and consequently sparking physical fights or fights that frequently involve unsuspecting relatives, friends, or relatives.

More little-known facts about this disorder

In a single casino night, a person whose bipolarity has given way to a state of mania can bet on roulette the salary full of a month, as her judgment is profoundly altered, momentarily hijacked by optimism exaggerated: may come to believe that she alone will break the bank.

It is also usually usual in cases of bipolar disorder to saturate credit cards in just a few hours, due to compulsive and uncontrolled purchases. When this happens, and the family of the sick person decides to go for professional help, many times there is no alternative but to prescribe hospitalization, so that the patient can receive and adhere to the rigorous pharmacological and psychological treatment in these cases, based on mood stabilizers and therapy.

Essentially it is a disease that has its origin in chemical imbalances and dysfunction of certain brain areas, which I do not intend to explain here so as not to kill the reader with boredom. For the moment, I am content with this small contribution in order to clarify or shed some light on one of the most misrepresented and least understood mental illnesses by society.