Thanks to aggressive media campaigns from the pharmaceutical companies, public awareness of bipolar disorder has been raised significantly. However, television and radio spots are limited in the information they can convey. So, while more people have become aware of bipolar disorder, they may not truly understand what exactly the condition is and what the common bipolar symptoms and bipolar medication are.
First, it is important to understand the basic bipolar symptoms and bipolar medications before delving on the whole issue of bipolar. A brief overview of bipolar illness and its medication is provided.
From overly high/and or irritable to sad and hopeless and then back again bipolar disorder causes dramatic mood swings, often with normal mood in between. Severe changes in behavior and energy go along with these changes in mood. The periods of highs is called mania and lows depression episodes. Bipolar disorder is characterized by extreme mood swings from mania to depression. The pattern of highs and lows varies for each person. For some people, episodes of mania or depression can last for weeks or months, while for others, mood swings are shorter and more frequent. Coping with bipolar disorder and the mood swings it brings can be difficult. Symptoms of bipolar disorders and its brief overview are as follows:
Manic Symptoms in Bipolar Disorder
-Being excessively irritable these people experience delusions of grandeur and euphoric feelings of being “high” that can lead to overly optimistic.
-People commonly experience an increase in energy and a decreased need for sleep. A person’s speech may be pressured, Attention span is low and a person in a manic state may be easily distracted. Judgment may become blurred.
-Racing thoughts travel through the mind so fast that ideas move from one to the other with little coherence.
-Impetuous actions are undertaken with little worry of the consequences.
Depressed Mood Symptoms of Bipolar Disorder
-Feelings of hopelessness, sadness, despair and extremely low levels of energy.
-Difficulty maintaining proper sleep patterns. Often, the individual is excessively tired or irritated.
-Guilt pervades ones thoughts with excessive shame.
-Eat a lot or hardly eating anything (from one extreme to the other).
-Persistent thoughts of death or suicide.
Bipolar Medications
When it comes to the pharmaceutical treatments of bipolar disorder, there is no standard, uniformed combination of bipolar medication that will deliver the same results in different patients. However, there is a finite pool of drugs that are utilized to aid in calming the negative effects of bipolar disorder. These medications generally include anti-depressants, mood stabilizers/anti-psychotic, and anti-anxiety drugs.
Anti-depressants are employed to help raise the individual’s mood and energy levels. Common anti-depressant medications include Wellbutrin, Effexor, and Zoloft and these medications are frequently prescribed to bipolar patients.
The most prescribed drugs to calm down the mania side of the bipolar illness are Lithium, Risperdal, Seroquel, and Geocodon. These anti-psychotic and mood stabilizer drugs are used to restore and calm down patients or tone down people with bipolar manic disorder.
While some doctors do not like to give anti-anxiety drugs to their patients there are others who still prescribe Xanax, Ativan and Klonopin to their patients. These medications help in bringing down excessive highs and panic attacks in the manic side of bipolar.
These drugs are prescribed in various dosages and combinations. Monthly visits with a psychiatrist are then conducted to determine whether the treatment should be modified or continued.
