Affecting approximately one percent of Americans, bipolar disorder, also known as a manic depressive illness, is a serious mood disorder. Many people focus on the depressive episodes but equal attention must be given to the mania side of the disorder.
What are the Symptoms of Bipolar Mania?
A lot of people experience bipolar mania also described as “hyper active.Mania, the opposite of depression with its common symptoms as increased energy, decreased need for sleep, rapid speech, euphoria, hypersexuality and impulsiveness.
Another symptom that is common but not always noticeable by family and friends is racing thoughts, which can be disjointed. This causes the patient to be easily distracted, even by things that seem very unimportant. This distractedness can often be seen in the conversations people have with those suffering from bipolar mania. The patient will jump from topic to topic quickly, or make “clang associations,” which is the association of words based on how they sound.
The impulsiveness associated with bipolar mania can be dangerous in some cases. Patients have impaired judgment, and may not think about the consequences of their actions. Impulsiveness can lead to reckless and risky behavior that may even endanger the patient, or others. Because of this, bipolar support groups are important in the treatment and management of bipolar mania.
Bipolar Mania and the Support Available
Beneficial to those struggling with bipolar mania is having access to a bipolar support group. Through a support group patients are able to relate to others in the group and they in turn help him/her put feelings, decisions, and thoughts into perspective. In addition to seeing a psychiatrist or counselor on a regular basis, support groups are incorporated into the regular psychotherapy for the treatment of manic depressive illness of bipolar.
Led by a counselor or psychiatrist who facilitates meetings, gets patients talking, and offers expert advice about comments and questions that come up, bipolar support groups are a great “sounding board” for patients. It is a place where they are reminded about many of the decisions they’re making are because of the illness and not of how they are feeling.
People with bipolar depression can get the support they want, but because they feel “good” when at the manic episode, they don’t want to seek the support they need, and this can be just as dangerous as not getting help when feeling depressed. Great resources can be offered by bipolar support groups to those with bipolar mania or depression episodes.
Getting more information on Bipolar.
Available online are lots of information on bipolar mania and bipolar support groups. Educating the public about manic depressive illness, one very valuable website is knowingbipolardisorder.com, which is an authority site covering a variety of topics helpful to patients. It includes specific articles about bipolar support groups and bipolar mania.
