MANIA

Mania - General Information

This disorder, also known as Bipolar Disorder or Manic-Depressive Illness, is a mental disorder that can change in an unusual way a person’s frame of mind, energy, or capacity to function. Mania is an illness that confuses people, makes drastic change in behavior, mood and thinking, incites to an unusual behavior, ruin’s rational thought, of even the striving of living. Unlike the normal behavior most of us have, the symptoms of Manic Depressive Illness are severe. These symptoms can result to bad relationships, failure at jobs, school set-backs, or even suicide. Therefore, this disorder is a sickness which can cause unimaginable suffering and very often, as it has been said, suicide. The good news is that Bipolar Disorder can be treated, and people with this kind of illness can have a long and productive life.

Statistics say that about 5.7 million of the American population has Mania (2.6 % American teenagers have mania by the age 18). This disorder develops in most of the cases in late adolescence or as a young adult. However, there are cases when Bipolar Disorder appears during childhood or late in life. However, Bipolar Disorder isn’t recognized as an illness from the beginning; people can have this illness, years on, until is truly diagnosed and can be treated like some other illnesses, such as diabetes or heart dysfunction. Manic-Depressive Illness is a long term sickness that requires great care.

Mania - Symptoms

Bipolar Disorder can cause strange mood changes — from extreme irritated behavior to a sad, hopeless state, most of the cases with a normal mood “pause” in between. Extreme changes in vigor go along with these types of changes in behavior. Also, these types of changes in behavior are called Mania episodes, or depression periods.

Mania symptoms include:

• Increasingly high energy ,vigor and euphoric mood,  restlessness
• Extreme irritability
• Rapid utter, fast thinking, jumping through ideas.
• Distractibility, can't concentrate well
• Sleep incapacity           
• Lack of judgment
• Increased sexual desire
• Drugs, smoking and alcohol abuse
• Aggressive behavior     
• Intense denial

Manic episodes are often diagnosed after signs / symptoms of depression.
Some of the depression symptoms include:

• Sad, anxious, strange empty mood
• Felling hopelessness
• Solid pessimism
• Guilt thoughts
• Loss of interest in some of your usual activities, including sex
• Extreme energy loss
• Concentration , memory disorders
• Uncertainty in making decisions
• Irritability
• Extreme sleeping problems: sleeping too much – can’t sleep at all
• Extreme weight problems: major weight loss – gaining weight
• Morbid thoughts, suicide attempts

A depressive episode of Mania is thought to be diagnosed when five or more of the above symptoms are repeated every day in at least 2 week periods More often, persons with severe mania can conclude as having symptoms such as, hallucinations (they hear, see or feel things that are not actually real) or delusions (false extreme believes about some things that more often aren’t even real). People with Bipolar Disorder who have these types of symptoms are usually false diagnosed with Schizophrenia.

Mania - Treatment

The fact is that most of the people with this kind of illness, even the ones with severe forms, can obtain substantial stabilization, normalizing their mood changes and relating symptoms with some proper medication. Because this disease is thought to be a recurrent sickness, it is recommended a preventive treatment for a long period of time, just to be sure. For better results it is strongly recommended that you combine medication with a psychosocial treatment, to manage or even prevent further disorders over time.

Also, for better results, it is best indicated that the combined treatment is continuous, and not on and off. Even then, there can be always immediate mood changes so you have to be always careful. When a Mania episode occurs, you have to immediately go see a doctor. Always working with a doctor can have a great positive impact in your success of getting better. In addition, you can also keep a chart of your daily mood changes, medication, sleeping program, energy levels, mood at work, so that the doctor can understand and study your mood changes better, and prescript newer medication.

Medication for Bipolar Disorder usually is prescribed by psychiatrists, but also by medical doctors with some type of expertise in this domain of mental disorders. It is best indicated though, for severe Mania patients to visit a psychiatrist. In most of the cases, for Bipolar Disorder the patients are given “mood stabilizers”, to control Mania disorder. Of course, other medications are added for the most serious cases, for shorter periods of time, to treat Mania episodes or forms of depressions that might occur.

Women with these disorders who wish to give birth, come across special difficulties due to the so very possible harmful effects given by the “mood stabilizer” medications to the developing fetus or nursing infant. This is another motive for persons with mental disorders to always keep in touch with a doctor. The different approaches of treatment for pregnant women should be discussed with a doctor in this case. Newer treatments that reduce these types of risk are now studied and hopefully developing.
Also, Manic-Depressive illness and thyroid gland function go hand in hand. People that have Bipolar Disorder problems usually have also a thyroid gland with an abnormal function. Extreme thyroid hormone levels can lead to mood, energy, disposition changes. Therefore, it is important that thyroid levels are always visualized by a physician.

Medication side effects:

When you start a treatment program, before starting to take medication for this illness, talk with your psychiatrist or pharmacist because there can appear side effects. Side effects that may result to gaining weight , nausea, anxiety, reduced desire for sexual intercourse, hair loss, severe problems in movement, and many others. If you start to take these types of medications and you start to have side effects, be sure to talk with a medical doctor. Also, when you start a treatment, you have to keep it as long as the doctor/ psychiatrist tells you, so that results are not interrupted.