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Bipolar Disorder is a very real and threatening illness, which needs to be treated as a long term disorder in order to manage it effectively throughout a persons life.

How do I know this?

Years ago my brother in law was diagnosed as having Manic Depressive Illness, otherwise known as Bipolar Disorder. It was described to us as being a brain disorder that can distort a persons mood and thoughts, energy and ability to function. It can also erode a persons will and desire to live. It can be genetic and is not usually diagnosed correctly until adulthood.

Most people will recognize that there are moments in their lives where they have ups and downs. A person with Bipolar experiences their highs and lows to an extreme degree. They very rarely tend to have a stable middle ground.

My brother in law seemed fairly normal until he was in his mid 20's, then strange things started to stand out to us. He phoned one day talking a mile a minute babbling about seeing Princess Diana. There was more to the conversation but it was all muddled and jumping from one topic to the next. We knew then that something was not right.

We found out that he had gone and bought a car on the spur of the moment with funds that were meant to be for other purposes. When we walked into their house we saw around 20 plastic CD racks. My sister was in tears, she had no idea what was going on.

We also found out that there had been things not 'quite right' with him for a little while now. Apparently he couldn't hold a job down (unusual for him). He was under the impression that his managers was 'out to get him' so he had drifted from job to job. There was more to the story, but my sister had said that at the time they had seemed very minor, and she thought that he had just been in a bad mood or was being inconsiderate.

Signs that someone is experiencing a Manic (or high) Episode include

1. Spending sprees
2. Increased energy and movement. Restlessness
3. Excessively "high" euphoric mood
4. High irritability
5. Talking very fast and jumping from one topic to the next.
6. Talking as if in a make believe land
7. No concentration, easily distracted
8. No or little sleep needed
9. Thinking they have unrealistic abilities and powers
10. Poor judgment
11. A lasting period of behavior that is unusual for them
12. Increased sexual drive and/or promiscuity
13. Abuse of drugs such as alcohol, sleeping pills
14. Aggressive, controlling behavior
15. Mismatched or unusually brightly colored clothing
16. Denial that anything is wrong

Signs

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