Bipolar is not just the regular day to day feeling LOW or HIGH . The mood changes generally come on slowly. Gradually amping to hypo-mania, mania and then possible psychosis . Ultimately to a crash of deep depression…. BUT, there is also RAPID CYCLING bipolar, where a person can have a rapid mood swing. There are different types of bipolar that most people are unaware of . BP I , characterized by at least one episode of psychosis . BP II is characterized as manifesting with hypo-mania , but not psychosis and usually is a more depressive type. Then there is a third type {I can’t spell } Clythomia {?} , a milder version, where many people do not need medications…oh yea…medications. Most people take 7 years or longer to find a med combo that works for them. And even then , ultimately that might fail. Bipolar is a complex mental illness. And affects everyone differently. Many bipolar people are able to work. There are bipolar Doctors , attorneys, yet some bipolar people are totally incapacitated by their illness. Very few people understand the subtleties of our illness. Many bipolar people themselves have not educated themselves on bipolar , and muddle through life wondering what the heck is going on ! Or they self medicate with illicit drug or booze.
As a bipolar I person, my goal is to try and educate lay people…and other bipolar people on what it is we deal with. I think Jen does a fabulous job of sharing the complexities of bipolar
Bipolar is not just the regular day to day feeling LOW or HIGH . The mood changes generally come on slowly. Gradually amping to hypo-mania, mania and then possible psychosis . Ultimately to a crash of deep depression…. BUT, there is also RAPID CYCLING bipolar, where a person can have a rapid mood swing. There are different types of bipolar that most people are unaware of . BP I , characterized by at least one episode of psychosis . BP II is characterized as manifesting with hypo-mania , but not psychosis and usually is a more depressive type. Then there is a third type {I can’t spell } Clythomia {?} , a milder version, where many people do not need medications…oh yea…medications. Most people take 7 years or longer to find a med combo that works for them. And even then , ultimately that might fail. Bipolar is a complex mental illness. And affects everyone differently. Many bipolar people are able to work. There are bipolar Doctors , attorneys, yet some bipolar people are totally incapacitated by their illness. Very few people understand the subtleties of our illness. Many bipolar people themselves have not educated themselves on bipolar , and muddle through life wondering what the heck is going on ! Or they self medicate with illicit drug or booze.
As a bipolar I person, my goal is to try and educate lay people…and other bipolar people on what it is we deal with. I think Jen does a fabulous job of sharing the complexities of bipolar
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The article and links within accurately describe most of what you said here, and each person’s experiences on the spectrum differ.
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