What is Bipolar Disorder?
Bipolar Disorder is the medical name for Manic Depression; at various times, it has also been known as Bipolar Affective Disorder and Manic-Depressive Illness. It is a mood disorder that affects approximately 1% of the adult population of Ireland and roughly the same percentage in other countries around the world. It’s in the same family of illnesses (called ‘affective disorders’) as clinical depression. However, unlike clinical depression, which seems to affect far more women than men, Bipolar Disorder seems to affect men and women in approximately equal numbers. It is characterised by mood swings. Though there is no known cure, most forms of bipolar disorder are eminently treatable with medication and supportive psychotherapy. The textbook definition of Bipolar Disorder is: one or more Manic or Hypomanic Episodes, accompanied by one or more Major Depressive Episodes. These episodes typically happen in cycles. All of these terms will be defined at greater length below.. .but in plain
Bipolar disorder is a common, recurrent, severe psychiatric illness that affects an individual’s mood, behavior and ability to think clearly. It occurs in 1% to 2% of the population in the United States. A variant, called bipolar II disorder, is probably even more common and occurs in up to 3% of the general population in this country.
Bipolar disorder (also known as manic depression) is a treatable illness marked by extreme changes in mood, thought, energy and behavior. It is known as bipolar disorder because a person’s mood can alternate between the “poles” of mania (high, elevated mood) and depression (low, depressed mood). This change in the mood or “mood swing” can last for hours, days, weeks or even months. Click here to learn more about bipolar disorder.
A. Until recently, bipolar disorder was known as manic depression. The word bipolar is now used to indicate the 2 poles, or extremes, that characterize the disorder. Bipolar disorder can affect a person’s ability to experience a normal range of mood. As defined by the American Psychiatric Association, bipolar disorder includes 4 main mood episodes—Mania, Hypomania, Depression, and Mixed Mood.
