Bipolar II Disorder

Over six million people in the Unites States alone suffer from a form of bipolar disorder. The effects of bipolar disorder can severely disrupt someone's work, school, or personal life, and a full understanding of the disorder helps to deal with its effects. Bipolar II disorder is often considered a milder form of bipolar disorder, but its symptoms are also serious.

Basics

• Bipolar II disorder is a psychiatric disorder that causes mood swings from depression to a hypomanic state. Unlike bipolar disorder, the disorder does not involve swings into a manic state, which is why it is generally thought to be less severe. The disorder is diagnosed, if the patient has had at least one major depressive episode and one hypomanic episode.

Causes

• Bipolar disorder is diagnosed as a chemical disease, which means it is not caused by any external sources. Usually, it develops when someone is in their late teens or twenties, and rarely develops after the age of 50 years. A good indicator of the presence of bipolar II disorder is family history; oftentimes the disorder is passed on genetically.

Symptoms

• A sufferer of bipolar II disorder swings, either rapidly or slowly, between depression and a hypomanic state. With the depression episodes, sufferers feel a loss of interest in the world around them; they may undergo a serious change in weight, have unhealthy sleep patterns, have trouble concentrating, and maybe contemplate suicide. When entering the hypomanic state, sufferers appear to be happy with the world; they seem productive and happy. Like the life of a party, they have an elevated mood and are talkative and full of self-esteem. However, this mood may lead to bad choices such as overindulgence in spending or sex. Often, sufferers of bipolar II disorder can lead a perfectly normal life in between these swings, when they suffer from neither state.

Treatment

• Unfortunately, no real cure exists for bipolar II disorder, but with medication and therapy, the side effects can be controlled. The disorder can be even better controlled if the treatment starts at an early age. If the case is serious enough, however, the sufferer may have to be moved to a hospital in order to prevent self harm. Some of the medications that work are lithium, antidepressants or neuroleptics. Although bipolar disorder is not acquired, an abusive or otherwise unhealthy home life can have averse effects on the recovery.

Warning

• The nature of bipolar II disorder means that it is often misdiagnosed as anxiety disorder with depression. In this case, the treatment options will not work and may even exacerbate the problems. In addition, the chemical nature of the disorder means that it can never be eradicated; even after years, the cyclical nature of the disorder means it may reveal itself again.