Bipolar Disorder

Hi,

I am Dr. Devendra Save, Psychiatrist, practicing in Mumbai for the last 20 years. Today I will talk about bipolar disorder. It comprises of 2 parts out of which one is almost known to all of us which is called depression. Depression means feeling sad, problems in life, something is going wrong and when we use this word, we use this loosely. In this sometimes because of reason or sometimes without the reason, the person starts feeling sad most of the days. Most f the days, for at least 2 weeks. He loses interest from everything. He is not able to experience his happiness. It starts affecting sleep, appetite. Sometimes, we may also see an increase in sleep and appetite also. There is a feeling of lethargy in the body, dull feeling. Not feeling like doing anything. Thinking process becomes negative. Small things start becoming big, a burden. Simple things are now difficult to be done.

And the person starts feeling very low. Many a time people even think about committing suicide also. t becomes so prominent which others may not understand, for that person this sort of life without any happiness, enthusiasm, motivation, without any sort of positivity becomes a burden and many a time people commit suicide. Now, this depressive disorder is something in simple words is a state where certain neurochemicals which keeps our mind active and fresh, they go down. I will explain it to you with the help of 3 neurochemicals. One is serotonin in which it goes down, the control on our thoughts goes down. Same thought in mind goes for a longer time. We just cannot let go of it. And thoughts turs negative. Another neurochemical called dopamine which is to increase your happiness and motivation. So, when it goes down, you are not experiencing happiness, pleasure.

3rd is known as norepinephrine which is for the energetics. We have got treatment to treat this and bring it up. Very nice treatments are there with the help of medications. If at all this depression comes in, you should consult a mental health professional immediately to see whether it is level of being treated or to be counseled. Now why I explained particularly this disorder is because it is very common and a large population suffers from it. Almost around 13% of population is likely to suffer at some point or the other. It can happen to small children, adults, elder, old people also. Many a time you don't require reason. When you are not depressed, all stress in life is okay. And when you depressed, all stress seems to be very difficult. To get them up, there are a lot of methods including therapies, medications, yoga but when it is serious or even moderate, the best thing is to visit a doctor and understand where it requires the treatment. In another phase, the person starts feeling very energetic. He thinks he has got all the power in this world. He starts making a plan, spending money, he thinks everything is achievable for him.

In spite of not sleeping, the person feels very fresh. The person may feel irritable, starts getting angry, aggressive at times, there is a lot of spending. Flight of ideas are there like one idea and then the other. People start making the planning of the business. This can last for a week, 15 days, 2 months together. Sometimes, this mania has a smaller variant which is called hypomania or smaller mania where the person is over-energetic. This is something which goes unnoticed. It has to come to an end and followed by the depression. Bipolar disorder is the disorder of the mood. As I told the treatment for depression is the increase of the chemicals where we have medication to stabilize the system. If bipolar is severe, we have to continue the treatment may be for lifelong because it may cause a lot of harm to the person as well as family and near and dear ones. Bipolar patients are more prone to suicide. I hope you have understood about this disorder and in case if you have any other query, you can connect with me through lybrate.com.

Thank You!