Abuse Vs. Bipolar

A great misunderstanding often occurs between the terms abuse and bipolar. Abuse is not a disorder and can happen to anyone at any time. Bipolar is a mental condition requiring the continued help of a health care provider. While abusive situations may come and go, bipolar disorder is a life-long affliction that must be monitored and controlled throughout an individual's life.

Abuse

• Abuse takes many forms, but is characterized as being mistreated or misused by an individual or individuals who show no concern for the innate self-worth of the person being abused. Abusers dismiss the well-being of the abused. They are interested in controlling their victims and use abusive behaviors to manipulate. The ultimate goal of many abusers is to obtain complete compliance from their victims.

Signs of Abuse

• Abuse is often divided into four types: physical, emotional, sexual and neglect. Physical abuse is typically the easiest to detect, with obvious physical symptoms present in abused individuals. Physical abuse includes hitting, burning, throwing, biting and any bodily injury that causes substantial physical pain.

  Emotional abuse is not easy to recognize and takes a more subtle approach. Yelling, bursts of outrage and anger in excess that takes a toll on a person's self-esteem is emotional abuse. It can hurt and have damaging effects as serious as forms of physical abuse.

  Sexual abuse is inappropriate sexual behavior between an adult and a child under 18, between an older child and a younger child or through force regardless of age.

  Neglect is also a form of abuse and occurs when a child, elderly individual or person unable to care for himself is underprovided for. This occurs when adequate food, clothing, medical care, housing and supervision cannot or are not being provided.

Bipolar

• Bipolar is a disorder affecting an number of men and women. It appears between the ages of 15 and 25 with the exact cause unknown. It tends to run in families, but no genetic link is known at this time. Bipolar disorder involves states of excitability or mania and alternating states of depression. These stages can come on suddenly and last for either long or short periods of time.

Mania State

• Mania is the happy, excited time of bipolar disorder. Symptoms of mania are agitation, elevated mood including hyperactivity, lots of energy, loss of self-control and racing thoughts. There is a sense of inflated self-esteem where the individual may experience thoughts of grandeur and feelings of being invincible. Little sleep is needed and interests in reckless behaviors follow. It is not uncommon for men and women with bipolar disorder to engage in overeating, drinking to excess, drug experimentation and sexual promiscuity.

Depressive State

• The flip side of mania is depression. After individuals reach the peak of excitation, they often crash. Depression manifests itself through difficulty concentrating and making small, daily decisions. Fatigue and lack of energy wage war on self-esteem. Sleep and eating disturbances occur, with the individual eating and sleeping too much or too little. Eventually individuals tend to withdraw completely from activities and the friends and family they once enjoyed. Suicidal thoughts consume their psyche and they are left wishing the mania would return.