Bipolar Disorder
Get the facts on Bipolar Disorder
What is Bipolar Disorder?
Bipolar disorder (sometimes called manic-depression) is a serious illness; a medical condition. It affects the normal functioning of the brain, so that the person experiences extreme moods — very high and over-excited or very low and depressed. The person may be affected so much that he or she experiences the symptoms of psychosis, and is unable to distinguish what is real.
See SANE Australia's fact sheet on pyshcosis - the symptoms generally respond well to treatment, and most people with bipolar disorder recover well from episodes of the illness.
The beyondblue website also has a range of factsheets, assessment tools and information about treatments.
How many people develop Bipolar disorder?
About 2 in every 100 people will develop bipolar disorder at some time in their lives
What are the symptoms?
People with bipolar disorder can become high, over-excited and reckless, or imagine that they are more important or influential than they are in real life. They can also become extremely low, feeling helpless and depressed, with difficulty making decisions or concentrating.
Some people mainly experience highs, others experience mostly lows, and some experience both extremes — becoming profoundly depressed or over-excited.
The person may then behave in an uncharacteristically irrational or risky manner.
What causes Bipolar Disorder?
The causes of bipolar disorder are not fully understood. As with any other illnesses, they are likely to be a combination of hereditary and other causes, but a genetic predisposition to develop the illness has been clearly established by scientists.
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