Bipolar disorder (formerly called manic-depressive illness or manic depression) is a mental illness that causes unusual shifts in a person’s mood, energy, activity levels, and concentration. These shifts can make it difficult to carry out day-to-day tasks.
Many people who find themselves suffering from severe mood swings, sudden shifts in activity level, extreme feelings of ecstasy and equally extreme feelings of depression are wondering whether or not such conditions are normal or are manifestations of the more serious ailment called bipolar disorder. Indeed, bipolar disorder behavior can be quite ambiguous. They can be telling of something that is ingrained in our humanity, or they can be symptoms of an abnormal behavior screaming for treatment.
So how can you tell if what you’re enduring is bipolar disorder or not?
Here is a simple test: is there a reason?
Usual mood swings, depressions, happiness or tiredness are experienced because they are caused by some factor or another. You may get depressed because someone hurt your feelings, for example. You may feel happy because someone told you something nice. You may lose all your energy because of the efforts you have exerted for a particular task. Regardless of what causes your mood swing, the integral factor is: there is a cause for the same.
Bipolar disorder behavior, on the other hand, is experienced by the patient for no reason whatsoever. It just happens. The subject may be feeling giddy happy one moment, and inconsolably depressed the next. He may feel hyperactive in the morning, and completely fatigued by midday. He may be extremely happy during the start of the conversation, and all of a sudden, he’d turn raving mad. And all of these are experienced without reason for their sudden eruption.
So if you’re in the middle of an emotional upheaval that you know will result in misery-filled feelings, as yourself this question: is there a reason for what you’re going through?
If there is a reason for the feelings you’re enduring, then you can stop worrying. It’s normal. It’s the human condition. We feel because we’re alive, after all. We feel pain when we’re poked. We feel joy when someone does for us a good deed. We feel angry when provoked. It’s a naturally cycle.
If there are no reasons for the feelings you’re going through, then chances are, you’re experiencing bipolar disorder behavior. It’s something pathological, and it’s something that will require treatment. You don’t have to do through it alone. Many people are willing to help you out. But first, it’s up to you to acknowledge the existence of the problem. You must be the one to take that first step towards a solution.