What exactly does being bipolar mean?

[TwistedMethod]

I've had people ask me if I am bipolar before, and it recently happened again. Truth be told, I'm not even sure what being bipolar even means, so I never know how to answer these questions. I know I'm different from a lot of people around me, but I'm not so sure about being bipolar. Can anyone give me at least a general idea of what it means to be bipolar?

[lindahand]

If people are asking you if you are bipolar - may be a good idea to go to a psychiatrist and find out. If you go to the little tab up top that says "Health Information" There is a link to bipolar disorder.

Because if you are bipolar there is medications that can help you manage so that you have better control of your life. Because if your symptoms are not affecting your functioning, for example you are mainly satisfied with your social contacts, you feel as satisfied as anyone else with a job (you can handle dealing with the pressure without outbursts of tears or anger), feel you can meet the goals you have for yourself. You have some normal ups and downs, someone dies you are sad, you get a raise you are happy, but it never gets beyond your control, you are not bipolar.

I hope you are not bipolar, but if you are there is a lot of help out there.

[thatquietgirl]

Unlike the above poster, I wouldn't say OCD is something that "usually" accompanies bipolar disorder.  Someone can have OCD and have bipolar disorder, but there's not necessarily a correlation between the two.

Anyway, bipolar disorder is a chemical imbalance in the brain which causes a person to go through mood swings.  A person will have very high highs with grandiose thoughts (thinking you can do the impossible), rapid speech, rapid thoughts, sometimes go without sleep for days and still have boundless energy.  A person will also have low lows.  Depressed, lethargic, no desire to get out of bed, tired despite adequate sleep, lack of motivation, lack of interest in activities/hobbies, etc.  A person with bipolar disorder can also be normal at times, too, obviously, and there are times when there are mixed states (both manic and depressive symptoms) or rapid cycling (very quickly between the two extremes; usually, bipolar symptoms have to last about a couple weeks, I believe it is, to be diagnosed, but in this case, the person is switching maybe every few hours, every few days, etc.).  Depending on the type of bipolar disorder the person has, auditory and visual hallucinations may accompany episodes of either type and the person may lose touch with reality or may stay with it enough to realize it's not real.

With medication and/or therapy, a person can learn to manage their symptoms and learn their triggers to avoid having as many episodes, though they will always have bipolar disorder even if they learn to manage it well enough they can go a long time between episodes.

[jimgreg]

bp = maninc,deppreshion= very high,,highs,,very low,,low,s..also mixed..
cycling,,hypomanic,,unipolar.. with ocd ussaly..