LucidInterval.org - A Self-Management Guide for Bipolar Disorder TARA Association for Personality Disorder What Is Bipolar? | Types, Symptoms, Treatment Bipolar disorder is a treatable illness marked by extreme changes in mood, thought, energy, and behavior. Bipolar disorder is also known as manic depression because a person’s mood can alternate between the “poles”—mania (highs) and depression (lows). The change in mood can last for hours, days, weeks, or months. What bipolar is not Bipolar disorder is not a character flaw or sign of personal weakness. Who bipolar disorder affects Bipolar disorder affects more than two million adult Americans. An equal number of men and women develop this illness. The illness tends to run in families and appears to have a genetic link. Types of bipolar disorder Different types of bipolar disorder are determined by patterns and severity of symptoms of highs and lows. Bipolar I disorder is characterized by one or more manic episodes that last at least a week or require hospitalization. Bipolar II disorder is characterized by one or more depressive episodes accompanied by at least one hypomanic episode.
Sweet Life Bipolar Advantage How to increase serotonin in the human brain without drugs Mania Manic Episode Several elements must be present to diagnose a manic episode. First, there must be a distinct period during which there are marked changes in mood—abnormally elevated (on top of the world), expansive (flamboyant, filters off), or irritable—and goal-directed activity or energy level. Next, the uncharacteristic behavior or mood must last at least a week, or require hospitalization. • inflated self-esteem or grandiosity • decreased need for sleep (for example, feeling rested after just a few hours’ sleep) • more talkative or sociable than usual, or pressure to keep talking • flight of ideas or the feeling that thoughts are racing • easily distracted by unimportant or irrelevant things • Increase in activity levels, either goal-directed (such as taking on new projects or socializing more) or a restless busyness • plunging into reckless activities like buying sprees, promiscuity or high-risk business deals Hypomanic Episode Major Depressive Episode
Mental Healthy | News, guides, advice and community - formally Uncovered magazine Bipolar World The Limits of Intelligence Santiago Ramón y Cajal, the Spanish Nobel-winning biologist who mapped the neural anatomy of insects in the decades before World War I, likened the minute circuitry of their vision-processing neurons to an exquisite pocket watch. He likened that of mammals, by comparison, to a hollow-chested grandfather clock. Indeed, it is humbling to think that a honeybee, with its milligram-size brain, can perform tasks such as navigating mazes and landscapes on a par with mammals. A honeybee may be limited by having comparatively few neurons, but it surely seems to squeeze everything it can out of them. At the other extreme, an elephant, with its five-million-fold larger brain, suffers the inefficiencies of a sprawling Mesopotamian empire. We humans may not occupy the dimensional extremes of elephants or honeybees, but what few people realize is that the laws of physics place tough constraints on our mental faculties as well. Sign up for Scientific American’s free newsletters.
5 Simple Strategies to Reclaim Your Sleep During Daylight Saving Time Photo: Pexels.com By April Michael I really have a love/hate relationship with Daylight Saving Time (DST). When I was younger, I always got excited about the “spring forward” since it means longer daylight hours and that summer is just around the corner. As I got older, though, and particularly after being diagnosed with bipolar disorder, DST meant my already tenuous sleep patterns would take a further beating. Somewhat counterintuitively, my manias always lined up with fall and winter, while my depressions lined up with spring and summer. So how do you maintain your mental health during the clock change, whether you’re stable or in a depressive or manic episode? As you probably well know, maintaining good sleep hygiene is a crucial part of maintaining good mental health, particularly in the case of bipolar disorder. Scientists have found a link between lack of sleep and increased risk of relapse for people with bipolar disorder. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Read more:
Depression - Home 25 Acts of Body Language to Avoid Our body language exhibits far more information about how we feel than it is possible to articulate verbally. All of the physical gestures we make are subconsciously interpreted by others. This can work for or against us depending on the kind of body language we use. Some gestures project a very positive message, while others do nothing but set a negative tone. Most people are totally oblivious to their own body language, so the discipline of controlling these gestures can be quite challenging. Most of them are reflexive in nature, automatically matching up to what our minds are thinking at any given moment. Nevertheless, with the right information and a little practice, we can train ourselves to overcome most of our negative body language habits. Practice avoiding these 25 negative gestures: “ I speak two languages, Body and English. ” — Mae West Holding Objects in Front of Your Body – a coffee cup, notebook, hand bag, etc. Want to know powerful, dominant, confident body language postures?
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