Bipolar disorder is a life-changing diagnosis. It means that all those days, filled with incredibly tense moments, incredible highs, and extreme lows, make sense. This condition, once called manic depression, is characterized by extreme mood swings. When they happen, you may feel intensely sad or hopeless and then become so energized that you cannot sleep.
Knowing that bipolar is happening to you isn’t easy to do. The symptoms are easy to miss or often misaligned with other types of mental health conditions. Proper treatment relies on accurate diagnosis. At Willow Creek Behavioral Health, we offer comprehensive treatment for adults and children exhibiting bipolar disorder symptoms.
What Is Bipolar Disorder?
A person with bipolar disorder has mania or hypomania symptoms, which are intense, emotional highs. They also have drastic shifts that lead to hypomania. Here, the outlook becomes more likely, and many people become withdrawn and fatigued. For many, the process looks like this:
- A person becomes depressed. They feel sad and hopeless. Many times, you’re just unsure why nothing interests you anymore.
- A person’s mood shifts. This leads to mania and symptoms of massive bursts of energy and, in most cases, extreme irritability.
Episodes like these will last frequently or rarely. Some happen more than once per year, although for most people, they last for a few days. There are periods of emotional stability that are possible between these swings.
This makes it challenging to know if you have bipolar disorder. It’s not possible to diagnose this condition yourself, as you’ll need an objective view.
Symptoms of Bipolar Disorder
Once you meet with our team at Willow Creek Behavioral Health, we will provide a comprehensive evaluation, assisted by our licensed team. We gather details of what is happening.
The following are common signs and symptoms of the manic phase of this condition:
- Excessive happiness and hopefulness. Excitement is unfounded for their current situation.
- Restlessness, or a sense of being unable to stop thinking, pursuing, or “doing.”
- Sudden and severe mood changes, including going from being happy to struggling with anger.
- Rapid speech or thoughts that seem to be racing.
- Increased amounts of energy. Less need to sleep. Often struggle to sleep more than a few hours at a time.
- Impulsive actions and poor judgment, often being more willing to take on risky activities than before.
Some people experience serious conditions that require immediate medical attention. That includes expressive signs of suicide or harming others. Psychosis may also occur, causing a person to experience hallucinations or delusional thoughts.
Symptoms of the depressive episodes of bipolar disorder may include:
- Overwhelming and often unfounded sadness
- Loss of enjoyment in activities that were once pleasurable
- Lack of motivation, and not getting out of bed
- Low energy and a constant level of fatigue, even with good sleep
- Irritability that is hard to console.
- Difficulty concentrating, making decisions, and processing thoughts.
There is the risk of suicidal thoughts as well as changes in appetite, so significant that it can lead to rapid weight gain or loss.
What to Do If You Believe You Have Bipolar Disorder
Treatment for bipolar disorder can be effective in restoring confidence, mental clarity, and even mood. There is no cure for this condition, but it can be well managed over time. For assistance, we encourage you to contact Willow Creek Behavioral Health immediately. Please speak with us about what you’re experiencing, and we’ll ask you some questions.
You should not put off getting help for bipolar disorder if:
- The mood changes are impacting your ability to function in life.
- You experience euphoria or a boost in energy that is not appropriate for that moment.
- You feel rapid changes between being in a good and a bad mood.
- You have become exhausted, and sleeping is not enough.
In these situations, we encourage you to contact our team now. Our mental health treatment center in Green Bay, WI, does not require appointments for those in a crisis situation. That means you can reach out to us now, and we can provide you with an initial screening. We can then offer help within our programs or refer you to someone who may be a better fit.
Contact Our Team to Find Out if You Have Bipolar Disorder
Let the professionals at Willow Creek Behavioral Health help you understand why you feel the way you do. You can obtain a no-cost, confidential assessment by calling us now or visiting us in person. Our mental health professionals are available 24/7 to help. Once you make that call or reach out to us, we begin working to be your advocate, guiding you through the process of getting the help you need. Contact us now to learn more.
