World Bipolar Disorder Day is celebrated on March 30, the perfect day to raise awareness about this pathology, too often underestimated, and about the importance of detection and treatment to avoid serious consequences.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), about 40 million people worldwide suffer from this disorder, which, like other mental illnesses, is still mild in some parts and usually becomes mild. In addition, some associate a change of mood or an unstable temperament with bipolar, not knowing that for them the pathology is affected by pain and disability. Experts, on the other hand, warn of its effects.
This is why this disorder can cause sudden changes in the state of mind and without justifying objective reasons, extreme changes that go from a euphoric state of emotion to an episode of depression. “It is extremely cruel because it seriously affects health and social interaction, as well as causing sleep disturbances and seriously influencing the ability to think”, highlights Enric Soler, associate professor of Psychology and Education at the Universität Oberta de Catalunya (UOC. ). But what is the truth about bipolar disorders? Here are some false myths about them.
How do you know if you have bipolar disorder?
Experts declare that going from happy to sad is not bipolar. Each person can go through several modes in the same day and therefore experience positive and negative emotions in a short period of time. “These are the movements that are together with the functional functions”, notes Monserrat Lacalle, also UOC associate professor of Psychology and Education.
The patient from this disorder involves episodes “manic, hypomanic or depressive, to the statements are not functional or healthy because the pain is very high and the behavior of those who experience it are dysfunctional”, adds Lacalle, who mentions. A person affected by this disorder may have “problems in their daily development from day to day”.
In addition, when a manic moment occurs due to this disease, the affected person usually has a “tremendously and constantly elevated, expansive, with ideas of omnipotence and invulnerability” mood, which can sometimes be accompanied by irritability, advises Soler. In this sense, the UOC professor provides examples of increased self-esteem, the magnitude of feelings, the need to reduce sleep, verbal or concentration difficulties are some of the ways for these patients that end them at risk.
The teachers also note that it can be done without the use of drugs or alcohol. And they show that, if an episode of depression appears, it lasts up to about two weeks, during which the mood is depressed for a good part of the day. Sadness, inner emptiness, inability to feel pleasure, loss of weight or appetite, as well as insomnia, feelings of guilt or guilt, impossibility, and more frequent thoughts can be frequent.
Is it a serious pathology?
Undoubtedly, they stand out because they can have the most serious problems. For this reason, teachers regret that this pathology is often treated superficially. Soler advises that the disorder is very serious because, on the one hand, it “invalidates the ability to carry out the simplest activities of daily life” and on the other hand to relate to relationships with a partner, family or in school.
In fact, adds Soler, this disorder is one of the diseases with the highest risk of suicide, “a great taboo that is not mentioned.” Along the same lines, Lacalle mentions that this disorder cannot be cured, since, although all patients stop in their own way, “it is a long habit”. That’s why it’s important to be diagnosed and treated in order to relieve symptoms and lead as functional a life as possible.
Treatment, of course, is key, and for this not only drugs are necessary. Prescriptions are usually antipsychotics or antidepressants to stabilize the mood, but together with this the most effective is good psychotherapy and education, both for the patients themselves and their families, to recognize the signs that appear before the manic or depressive period. impact of UOC a.
