Treatment and Signs of Bipolar Disorder in Detail
Public awareness of bipolar disorder has been raised significantly due to the aggressive media campaigns from pharmaceutical companies. But, radio and television have been limited in their raising awareness of this illness. Although a lot of people have come to hear about this illness they have not come to really understand what the condition really is, its symptoms and medication.
Understanding some of the basic bipolar symptoms and bipolar medication treatments is very important before delving into the comprehensive. For both the common bipolar symptoms and medications, a brief overview is provided.
On the most basic of levels, bipolar disorder involves “swinging” from extremes of highs and lows. That means a person afflicted with the disorder can experience high, elevated moods followed by low, depressed moods. (Hence, the condition was originally called manic depression) The distribution of the highs and lows are not 50 – 50. In other words, one does not shift moods from day to day. A person could be manic for weeks on end, then shift into days of depression, followed by weeks of mania. Regardless of the duration of the mood swings, they are quite pronounced as bipolar disorder is serious enough to be labeled a disability. A brief overview of the symptoms of bipolar disorder is as follows:
Manic Symptoms in Bipolar Disorder
-Being excessively irritable these people experience delusions of grandeur and euphoric feelings of being “high” that can lead to overly optimistic.
-People commonly experience an increase in energy and a decreased need for sleep. A person’s speech may be pressured, Attention span is low and a person in a manic state may be easily distracted. Judgment may become blurred.
-They experience thoughts that just cant go away; this thoughts can be in the background with other thoughts or take over a person’s consciousness altogether.
-Their behavior may become aggressive, intolerant or intrusive. People may feel out of control or unstoppable.
Depressed Mood Symptoms of Bipolar Disorder
-Feelings of hopelessness, sadness, despair and extremely low levels of energy.
-Usually these people are very tired and quickly irritated, and do not have any sleeping patterns whatsoever.
-Guilt pervades ones thoughts with excessive shame.
-Eat a lot or hardly eating anything (from one extreme to the other).
-Persistent thoughts of death or suicide.
Bipolar Medications
There is no standard, uniformed combination of bipolar medication that will deliver the same results in different patients when it comes to the pharmaceutical treatments of bipolar disorder. To aid in the calming effects of bipolar disorder, however, there is a finite pool of drugs that are utilized. Included in these drugs are anti anxiety, mood stabilizers/anti-psychotic and anti depressants drugs.
Anti-depressants are employed to help raise the individual’s mood and energy levels. Common anti-depressant medications include Wellbutrin, Effexor, and Zoloft and these medications are frequently prescribed to bipolar patients.
Lithium, Seroquel, Risperdal and Geocodon are the most commonly prescribed drugs for anti-psychotics and mood stabilizers. These drugs are used for the toning down of the manic side of the bipolar illness. With this medication the patients life is somehow restored not to 100% at least to near normal level.
Some psychiatrists as a treatment for bipolar disorder have fallen out of favor with anti-anxiety drugs. But there are others who still prescribe Xanax, Ativan and Klonopin to bring down excessive highs and panic attacks in bipolar patients.
Drugs that are prescribed to patients are given in different dosages and combinations. To determine whether the treatment should be modified or continued; monthly visits to the doctors is highly advised.