So what is bipolar disorder?

As some of you know, about six months ago I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. In fact I diagnosed myself, before having it confirmed by my psychiatrist, but that's another story.

So you may be wondering, what exactly is bipolar disorder? It's a mental illness that used to be called manic depression, where the person experiences periods of depression and periods of mania. You may well be familiar with depression. You probably have friends and family who have it. I myself was diagnosed with depression for ten years before being diagnosed with bipolar disorder. 

So what about the mania side? What's that about? To answer this question I'm going to refer you to Jim Carrey's character in the film 'The Mask'.

When wearing the mask he is hyperactive, amorous, makes a lot of puns, talks very fast, is impulsive, grandiose, and cycles rapidly between emotions. These are all mania symptoms. In fact Jim Carrey himself has bipolar disorder, which permits him to be very authentic in his representations of other eccentric characters such as Ace Ventura and The Grinch.

Anyway, I'll come back to both depression and mania in more detail later, but to summarize, I suffer from extreme mood swings. These are not your regular mood swings though, they only affect 1-2% of the population and can be lethal, with an shocking 20% of people suffering from bipolar disorder dying from suicide. Not to worry though, I take medication and see a psychiatrist, and also do not do drugs or drink to excess, which means that I'm a lot more stable than most of the people who unfortunately die due to this condition. I am also educating myself about my illness by attending a weekly seminar on bipolar disorder which is in fact what motivated me to write this blog, and so I'm becoming more and more aware of what to look out for and when to seek help.

If you think that you might have bipolar disorder I encourage you to go and see your GP, as it is a treatable condition and you can greatly improve your quality of life by getting treated.

If you are feeling suicidal please call the Samaritans on 116 123 from the UK, or SOS Amitié on 01 42 96 26 26 from France.