What are bipolar symptoms?

Bipolar symptoms tend to be one of the great mysteries surrounding an illness. There seems to be a great deal of people who will tell you that they know all about bipolar symptoms when they don’t really have a clue. These are the type of people who will tell you that they have bipolar disease because they have been feeling slightly depressed and they ‘know’ that this is one of the bipolar symptoms. Being bipolar is in fact much more serious and the bipolar symptoms that sufferer’s exhibit are much more pronounced than just being a little down.

As bipolar disorder has four separate phases with two main ‘categories’ there are actually more bipolar symptoms than you would think. As the two main categories are mania and depression it is easier to think of the bipolar symptoms in two lists, one for mania and one for depression.

Mania bipolar symptoms

·         Extreme highs during which a person may feel elated for no reason and be quite excitable

·         Feelings of “I can do anything” even for the most risky activities

·         Feeling as though you can function perfectly well on little or no sleep, often for days

·         Risk taking – this can be in the form of dangerous activities, excessive consumption of alcohol and the taking of drugs.

·         Spending sprees – these are usually something which the person who is bipolar cannot afford and during a spree they will buy things that they do not want or need. After a spree they may wonder why they have bought items and not be able to remember doing it very well.

·         In more extreme cases during a manic episode the person with bipolar disorder may suffer from hallucinations and delusions which can seem quite real to them at the time.

Depressed bipolar symptoms

·         Feelings of little or no self worth

·         Sleeping too much and finding it hard to get up in the mornings

·         Putting on or losing weight, often rapidly

·         Low levels of concentration

·         Feeling like you are unable to cope with daily life – going to work, dealing with others etc

·         Lack of interest in previously enjoyed activities

·         Lack of sexual desire

·         In some very severe cases the sufferer might seriously think about committing suicide and could try to do so

Often these bipolar symptoms will occur in cycles with times when the sufferer seems to be quite well and not in the throes of a manic or depressive episode. Or there can also be times when the bipolar symptoms that an individual displays are not as pronounced during a manic episode and this is referred to as hypermania. Whilst these episodes are not as severe they can still be quite disturbing for the person with bipolar disorder and those around them and they can also be the signal that a more heightened episode is on its way.