Bipolar Disorder: Recognizing Mood Episodes and Finding Support
Everyone’s mood changes. Bipolar disorder is different from ordinary ups and downs because it involves episodes of significant changes in mood, energy, activity, concentration, and behavior.
A person may experience periods of depression, mania, hypomania, or mixed features. These experiences can affect work, relationships, finances, sleep, safety, and daily functioning.
What can mania look like?
Mania may involve an unusually elevated, expansive, or irritable mood along with increased energy or activity. Possible signs include:
Needing much less sleep without feeling tired
Racing thoughts or speaking much faster than usual
Feeling unusually powerful, confident, or capable
Taking financial, sexual, professional, or physical risks
Becoming unusually impulsive or agitated
Having difficulty slowing down or recognizing consequences
Experiencing hallucinations, delusions, or behavior that feels out of touch with reality
Mania is not simply being productive, enthusiastic, or creative. A significant change from a person’s usual baseline and a growing impact on judgment or functioning deserve professional assessment.
What is hypomania?
Hypomania is a less severe elevated or irritable mood state. It may feel productive or exciting to the person experiencing it. Friends or family may notice that the person seems unusually energized, talkative, driven, or impulsive.
Because hypomania may not immediately cause severe impairment, it can be overlooked. It is still important information for a clinician evaluating a pattern of mood episodes.
Bipolar depression and mixed features
Bipolar depression can include low mood, loss of interest, hopelessness, low energy, sleep or appetite changes, difficulty concentrating, and feelings of worthlessness. These symptoms can resemble other forms of depression, which is one reason a clinician needs to understand the person’s full history rather than focus only on the current episode.
Some people experience mixed features, such as hopelessness combined with high energy, racing thoughts, agitation, or an inability to sleep. This combination can be especially distressing and deserves prompt professional attention.
How is bipolar disorder evaluated?
A qualified clinician may ask about the person’s lifetime mood history, changes in sleep and energy, functioning, family history, medications, substances, medical conditions, and previous treatment. A mood or sleep journal can provide useful information, but it cannot diagnose bipolar disorder by itself.
Do not start, stop, skip, or change psychiatric medication based on an online article. Antidepressants, mood stabilizers, antipsychotic medicines, and other treatments require individualized medical guidance.
What support can include
Treatment may involve psychiatric evaluation, medication management, psychotherapy, education, regular sleep and daily routines, family support, and monitoring. Therapy can help with coping, communication, emotional regulation, boundaries, treatment routines, and recognizing early warning signs.
If someone is rapidly losing touch with reality, cannot care for basic needs, is behaving dangerously, or has thoughts of suicide or self-harm, seek immediate help. In the United States, call or text 988 for crisis support. Call 911 or go to the nearest emergency department for immediate danger.
Support is possible
Bipolar disorder is a serious condition, but effective ongoing treatment can improve stability, functioning, and quality of life. An accurate assessment is an important first step.
Learn more about Radiant’s mental-health services and telehealth options.