The Pros And Cons Of Bipolar Disorder

Imagine a person who is the life of the party. They are the person from work or school who can take any project and have it completed perfectly, ahead of schedule. They wear new clothes and have a high fashion sense, they love to shop and spend money. They are always up for a challenge, wanting to be creative and fun. They live life to the fullest and everyone wants to be around them. Now imagine the opposite of that person, someone who is depressed, low, almost to the point of not even wanting to get out of bed. They are so easily irritated that even looking their way could set them off. No one wants to be around them and they don’t want to be around anyone. They want to be left alone in their misery, and anyone who tries to raise them out of their desolation is often met with an argument, pushing away the ones who just want to help. It’s hard to imagine that this could be the same person, but when you’re living with bipolar disorder this is often what happens, you never know which person you will be from day to day. Thankfully there are many treatment options to those that deal with this disease that allow them to live lives without so many of the roller-coaster moments.
Bipolar disorder or manic-depressive illness is a mental disorder characterized by abnormal mood shifts, as well as fluctuations in energy, activity levels and the ability to complete everyday tasks. Bipolar is a serious mental illness that can damage relationships, career prospects, academic performance, and can even lead to suicidal tendencies. A patient with bipolar disorder has severe fluctuations in mood (poles) - from depression to mania. Usually, moods are normal in between the peaks and troughs (Nordqvis, 2012). Everyone experiences ups and downs in lif...

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...e regular therapy, typically cognitive behavioral therapy, can help people get on a good schedule and understand and interpret events and thoughts. Also interpersonal therapy can be helpful in maintaining stable friendships, relationships, and family interaction. These are often a problem with people who are bipolar.
The important thing to remember is that having bipolar disorder isn’t the end of the world. Are there going to be bad days? Of course. But the important thing to remember is to not give up. It might take months to find a combinations of medications that will help improve mood stability. You might have to try many different combinations and that can be very frustrating. A person may also take a long time to be comfortable opening up in a group therapy setting. The key to living with bipolar disorder is to just be patient and live life one day at a time.