Written by John Victor | Reviewed By John Victor | Updated On September 30, 2022
Listen to this article in Audio
–Reck, age 20 Less than a year ago, Reck had his first major manic episode while away at college. After using some recreational drugs with his friends, he felt a sudden change come over him that persisted even after the drugs' effects wore off. "The next day, I thought that I was enlightened and knew the meaning of life like I was a Buddha or Gandhi," he recalls. "I felt invincible, like I was on top of the world and could do anything. I even thought I had psychic powers, like ESP. I didn't sleep because I felt like it was a waste of time. I stayed up all night writing poetry. I talked nonstop, even though I'm usually quiet. I spent a thousand dollars on CDs, clothes, and food for my friends." When Reck came home, his mother, Nancy, realized that Reck was manic because her daughter also had bipolar disorder. She immediately got him to the hospital.
The mood disorder discussed here is Bipolar disorder, also known as a manic disorder. This treatable mental illness involves extreme mood changes, thoughts, energy, and behavior with realistic feelings of excitement Euphoria.
A person with Bipolar disorder has a mood that usually alternates between mania or a significantly" up the mood" and depression, or a significantly "down" mood. These changes or mood swings can last for hours, days, weeks, or even months.
In the manic episode :
It's a distinct period of elevated, enthusiastic, or irritable mood with increased physical and mental activity and energy, decreased need for sleeping without feeling tired, racing thoughts, poor judgment, reckless behavior, delusions, and hallucinations.
In the hypomanic episode:
It is similar to a manic episode, except that it is less severe and has no delusions or hallucinations. It is different from a non-depressed (euthymic) mood with a noticeable change in unusual or out-of-character behavior.
Difference between bipolar and ordinary mood swings :
•Interference with life: The extreme mood that comes with Bipolar disorder can cause serious problems.
E.g., depression can make a person go lazy and away from all the work or mains can cause a person to go to work for days without sleep.
Treatment
•Exercise and sleep: In this mediation and keeping track of your sleep could help.
There is interpersonal and social rhythm therapy (ISRT), which is a Psychosocial therapy for Bipolar disorder people that includes a lot of emphasis on regulating the individual's sleep-wake cycle and daily routine because they have susceptible circadian systems, which makes it much more difficult for them to recover if their sleep or other aspects of their daily routine are disrupted.
•Maintaining mood charts :
1. Date-there should be space for recording data for each day.
2. Mood scale: the scale would typically include a baseline, which indicates feeling normal (no depression or mania) and then
a range of points above the baseline for elevated mood and below the baseline for depressed mood. A scale of -3 to +3 is standard, but some charts have scales of -5 to +5 or even -10 to +10. I like to use -3 to +3.3.
3. How much sleep the person got.
4. What medication was taken and the dosage.
5. Notes: this can be a record of life events considered relevant, such as stressors, therapy sessions, family gatherings, or notes about the workplace. Some people also track their weight.
•Various therapies: such as
1) CBT
2) interpersonal and social rhythm therapy
3) Functional training.
4) Psychotherapy
5) Psycho-education,
6) Family-focused treatment (FFT),
7) Bipolar counseling,
8) Positive psychology,
9) Narrative therapy,
10) Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy/Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT).,
11) Functional training
With this, I hope you can find solutions to how to detect Bipolar disorder and the treatments for it.
I have done M.Phil in Clinical Psychology, worked at VIMHANS till 2012. Since then started working at my own clinic in New Delhi. I also worked as an Asst Professor at Amity for some time, but my passion for working with clients brought me back to my clinical work. I have worked with hundreds of people, assisting them to achieve their goals.
I have also started this portal, Mind Solace, to bridge help seekers and help providers. As time goes, I have realized that there are so many amazing people out there who help others by sharing, writing, and interacting in meaningful conversations. Thus "My Mental Health Support" started.
Request you to join, engage, and support people around.
John Victor
Clinical Psychologist
CEO, Mind Solace.
You can also visit my personal website, www.johnvictor.com
