Bipolar disorder

Bipolar disorder, formerly known as manic depression, is a mental illness that causes extreme mood swings, including emotional highs (mania or hypomania) and emotional lows (depression). When you are depressed, you may feel sad or hopeless and lose interest or pleasure in most activities. When your mood shifts to mania or hypomania (less extreme than mania), you may feel euphoric, energetic, or unusually irritable. These mood swings can affect sleep, energy, activity level, judgment, behavior, and the ability to think clearly.

There are different types of bipolar disorder and related disorders. These can consist of mania or hypomania and depression. Symptoms can cause unpredictable changes in mood and behavior, resulting in significant distress and life difficulties. Types of bipolar disorder include: Bipolar I Disorder, Bipolar II Disorder, Cyclothymic Disorder, and other types.

Bipolar I disorder is characterized by manic symptoms; that is, the patient's elevated mood phases are so severe that they are noticeable to those around them because they can disrupt their daily activities, whether academic, professional, or familial. Bipolar II disorder is characterized by a predominance of depressive episodes, and its main feature is hypomania. Although it also presents with mood elevations, these are much less intense, often going unnoticed by family and friends.

It is important to note that not all of the symptoms mentioned need to be present to make a diagnosis, but they do need to be present in a significant proportion.