Mood disorders are mental disorders characterized by disturbance in one’s mood. The mood disturbance can be severe and can include depression, mania, or hypomania, or any combination of these.

There is a certain type of mood disorder called bipolar disorder. It involves swings in mood from elation to depression without identifiable external cause. A person having bipolar disorder experiences swings from depression to mania. During the manic phase of this disorder, the patient may show unnecessary, unwarranted silliness. They may also show poor judgment and recklessness and may be argumentative. A manic person may speak rapidly, have unrealistic ideas, and jump from subject to subject. They possibly cannot sit still for very long. These symptoms are predominant for a specific period of time lasting for a few days . Hospitalization can often be necessary to keep the person from harming themselves and others. Bipolar disorder has another side, the depressive episode. Bipolar depressed patients often sleep more than usual and are exhausted. This contrasts with those with major depression, who usually has trouble sleeping and is agitated. Irritability and withdrawal symptoms can be seen during bipolar depressive episodes.

What causes mood disorders is not well known. There are chemicals in the brain, called endorphins, that are responsible for positive moods. Other chemicals in the brain, called neurotransmitters, regulate endorphins. Studies show that mood disorders are caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain. Unwanted incidents in life can also add to a depressed mood. On the other hand, genetic factors could be a prospect in causing bipolar disorder. Since it is related to depression, a gene may be responsible for the occurrence of the disorder. And this gene may be triggered by the environment, such as serious life-changing events. Evidence suggests that environmental factors play an important role in the development and course of bipolar disorder, and that individual psychosocial variables may interact with genetic dispositions.

Moreover, some limited long-term studies indicate that children who later receive a diagnosis of bipolar disorder may show subtle early traits such as sub-threshold cyclical mood abnormalities, full major depressive episodes, and possibly ADHD with mood fluctuation. There may be hypersensitivity and irritability. There is some disagreement whether the experiences are necessarily fluctuating. An account of stimulant utilize in childhood is found in high numbers of bipolar patients and has been found to cause an earlier onset of bipolar disorder, worse clinical course, independent of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Mood stabilizer medications are usually used to cure bipolar disorder. Psychiatric drugs are sometimes used. Psychotherapy also has a role, often when there has been some recovery of stability. In severe cases in which there is a threat of damage to oneself or others involuntary commitment may be used; these cases generally entail severe manic episodes with depressive episodes with suicidal intention.

Making a diagnosis of bipolar disorder is quite a complicated case. The reason is due to the fact that the pattern of highs and lows varies in every patient. For some people, mania or depression can last for weeks or months, even for years. For other people, bipolar disorder takes the form of frequent and dramatic mood shifts.

According to a clinical psychiatrist named Michael Aronson, MD, there are discoveries in bipolar disorder that shows that there is a wide range of symptoms and mood changes in this disorder. It’s not always dramatic mood swings. In fact, some people seem to get along just fine. There is productivity even in manic periods. They think things are going great. The danger comes when the mania grows really worse. Changes can be very dramatic, with catastrophic results. People can get involved in reckless behavior, spend a lot of money, there may be sexual promiscuity, sexual risks. The depressed phases can be equally dangerous: Frequent thoughts of suicide can really harm.

Everything happened so suddenly. The thoughts racing through my head at a hundred miles an hour. Depressing thoughts that would not seem to leave me alone. This was not me. I grew up in a loving family, I’m in a band, I’ve got a great girlfriend. Why am I suddenly sleeping every day and having these suicidal thoughts? I decided to run away from all of it. I packed my backpack with a few things and hit the road. I didn’t have a destination. I didn’t even have a good taste in my mouth about my friends, or family, or what was going to happen to me. Thoughts were foggy and dark. One minute I was thinking about jumping in front of a train, the next minute I would laugh at myself for having such a thought.

After a few days on the road, I woke up one morning completely thrown off by my surroundings. I was cold, hungry, alone by the river. My mind felt like scrambled eggs and I decided it was time to find someone. I showed up at my cousin’s house and explained to him that I had found God. His face told me that he thought I was joking. But the more I spoke with him, the more concerned he got, and the next thing I knew my dad was there to pick me up. After many frantic hugs and shoulder shakes, I was taken to the hospital and diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

Manic depression is no joke. I’m on a ton of medicines that make me feel fuzzy and tired even though my thoughts have leveled out for the most part and I sort of feel like me again. I’m still in a band, but my band mates are always concerned about how I’m feeling or whether or not I’m going to take off again. My parents aren’t quite sure how to deal with living bipolar either. The medication is costing them money, and they keep searching for a permanent cure. If I forget to take my medication, I begin to go back to some crazy corners in my mind and people around me get a little scared because I become unpredictable. I’ve begun going to church pretty frequently because I want to ask God for a solution. I wish living bipolar didn’t entail a bunch of pills that take me out of myself. But then again I’m not myself when I don’t take the medicine either. It’s quite ridiculous!

I just have to live one day at a time. My family and I have supper together every evening and talk about normal family things. Like how our day was. How class was. How is the band doing? Do we have a new drummer yet or any shows coming up? But in the back of my mind there is a constant nagging, telling me that everyone is judging me for being a freak. I wonder if they’re scared of me. They think I could crack at any moment. And the sad thing is that I could.

Adjusting to living with bipolar disorder is a hard thing to do after leading a semi-normal life for eighteen years. But like Father Welsh tells me, “Living bipolar is Gods way of teaching me to overcome weakness.” So I try to be understanding and compassionate. I work real hard every day to get over my aweful feelings of not fitting in. My music is getting better and my drive is getting stronger. With the help of my friends and family, I will use my feelings about this bipolar madness to fuel me on the path to greatness.

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Column by Maria Jennings Crazy. Manic. Emo. Ask a random pedestrian to describe someone affected by bipolar disorder, and youll hear any of these three adjectives. However, as a UK student diagnosed with this disorder, I refute all of these opinions. Because this week is Mental Illness Awareness Weekdeclared by the National Alliance on Mental Illness I realized how blind people are to the reality of this mental illness. Affecting 222 million adults worldwide, bipolar disorder should be

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