Why do people with bipolar disorder have a hard time controlling their emotions?
Whooaaa, alright, I think we need to strand apart “emotions” and “mood.” An emotion is something you feel right here and now. A mood is a pervasive, enduring feeling that lasts for quite some time, still allowing for different emotions. For example, someone can be in a depressed mood and still laugh if someone tells a funny joke. It is a common misconception that people with bipolar disorder are happy one minute and sad the next. In truth, you need to be experiencing the symptoms of a major depressive episode as the DSM defines it, which goes on for at least 2 weeks. You also need to experience the manic episode for at least 1 week. Even considering this, people still cycle much slower than 2 weeks depressed-1week manic-2 weeks depressed. A “rapid cycler” has 4 or more episodes in an entire year, which means that many people with bipolar disorder cycle even much slower than that! As far as someone with bipolar disorder having trouble controlling their depressed and manic episodes, the
