Bipolar Disorder

Bi-polar disorder is an illness that steals time from one’s life. It often first shows itself in early adulthood, and is characterized by mania, depression or both.

The manic phase may last from days to months and can include the following symptoms:

Agitation or irritation
Elevated mood
Hyperactivity
Increased energy
Lack of self-control
Racing thoughts
Inflated self-esteem (delusions of grandeur, false beliefs in special abilities)
Little need for sleep
Over-involvement in activities
Poor temper control
Reckless behavior
Binge eating, drinking, and/or drug use
Impaired judgment
Sexual promiscuity
Spending sprees
Tendency to be easily distracted

The depressed phase involves very serious symptoms of major depression:

Difficulty concentrating remembering, or making decisions
Eating disturbances
Loss of appetite and weight loss
Overeating and weight gain
Fatigue or listlessness
Feelings of worthlessness, hopelessness and/or guilt
Loss of self-esteem
Persistent sadness
Persistent thoughts of death
Sleep disturbances
Excessive sleepiness
Inability to sleep
Suicidal thoughts
Withdrawal from activities that were once enjoyed
Withdrawal from friends

There is a high risk of suicide with bipolar disorder. While in either phase, patients may abuse alcohol or other substances, which can worsen the symptoms.

Sometimes there is an overlap between the two phases. Manic and depressive symptoms may occur simultaneously or in quick succession in what is called a mixed state.

With these patients, I work with a psychopharmacologists, who is a psychiatrist who specializes in the prescription of medicines. Although the medicine stabilizes the illness, patients still may have behavioral patterns that they want changed. I teach you how to identify patterns of behavior that have not worked and replace them with ones that work better.