World Bipolar Day falls on 30th March every year
World Bipolar Day is a day designed to raise worldwide awareness of the condition and change the social stigmas regarding the disorder. Someone who experiences the condition isn’t any less of a person than a person that does not, nor should they be considered ‘weak’. Bipolar disorder affects a person’s mood, which can swing from manic highs to depressive lows. If you have never experienced bipolar-disorder it is hard to see or understand what has triggered it, however lack of sleep, stress and change in medication are often possible triggers.
A person affected by bipolar-disorder will experience periods of mania or hypomania where the person can feel extremely happy / outgoing but can also have periods of intense irritability and restlessness. Often these manic highs can be followed by a period of depression that often last longer than mania. During these low periods feelings of intense sadness or hopelessness may lead to fatigue, trouble concentrating, and thoughts of suicide. No two people experience the condition the same and the length and depth of the cycles can vary from person to person.
We should be supporting those that have Bipolar rather than looking down at them, the hardest thing to do in life is to battle your own mind!
Things you should know:
If someone experiences Bipolar Disorder – they ‘have’ Bipolar, not they ‘are’ Bipolar. It’s a condition, not a type of person and this is one of the biggest things that is misunderstood. Just like someone that has diabetes – they ‘have’ diabetes, not they ‘are’ diabetes.
Everyone has ups and downs in life but the difference between this and Bipolar is the extremities of the moods, frequency and duration.
It’s more complicated than you think! There are different types of Bipolar disorder and it’s different for everyone.
It affects more people than you think – 1 in 100 people suffer from Bipolar in their lifetime
It can be diagnosed at any age but usually develops in the teens.
You can even have Bipolar and NOT actually have mood swings
More information:
https://www.rethink.org/diagnosis-treatment/conditions/bipolar-disorder
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/bipolar-disorder/
http://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/healthadvice/problemsanddisorders/bipolardisorder.aspx