What is Bipolar Disorder?
Bipolar disorder is a condition that causes extreme mood swings characterized by intense emotional episodes (mania or hypomania) followed by inexplicable emotional ‘downs’ (depression).
When you go into depression with mental disorders, you may feel hopeless and sad. You lose your interest in pleasurable activities and feel exhausted most of the time.
But as soon as your mood shifts to mania or hypomania, you begin to experience a significant increase in motivation. You feel euphoric, full of energy, restless, and nervous. This quiz will discuss a variety of those symptoms which may occur with mood disorders.
For those with bipolar disorder, bipolar disorder can feel like an endless cycle of euphoria and depression. While you can appreciate, and perhaps even enjoy, the periods of mania the frequent emotional ups and downs can become exhausting at some point with bipolar.
The mood changes that characterize bipolar disorder can affect your sleep, behavior, decisions, and social interactions. In other words, this condition can eventually impact your personal and professional life.
That is why this bipolar disorder test or quiz is in place to help understand potential symptoms of bipolar disorder. Bipolar disorder is treatable, once diagnosed.
Although bipolar disorder will last all of someone's life, people who have this condition can learn to manage mood swings and other related symptoms by following a specific treatment plan for bipolar disorder. Bipolar disorder is not something you have to deal with alone, there are people out there who can help!
Signs of Bipolar Disorder
To understand what people with bipolar disorder are going through and what is acknowledged in this quiz, we need to look at the symptoms that characterize the manic and depressive episodes.
During the manic phase, patients may experience:
- High levels of energy
- Excessive, rapid, and sometimes incoherent speaking
- Grandiosity and an increased sense of self-esteem
- Restlessness
- Lack of focus
- Impulsive decision making
- Tendency to engage in numerous projects
- Excessive risk-taking
- Substance abuse
- Lack of sleep
- Intrusive, repetitive thoughts.
During the depressive phase, patients may experience
- Depressive mood
- Lack of energy
- Lack of motivation
- Poor quality sleep
- Physical and mental exhaustion
- Persistent sadness
- Feelings of worthlessness and hopelessness
- Suicidal ideation
- Difficulty in making decisions.
Depending on the severity of the condition, each phase can last between one week and two-three months. Those with bipolar may or may not realize they are experiencing an episode with the disorder. That is one reason why this bipolar quiz may be a good place to start for testing and understanding the disorders. Whether you are experiencing bipolar 1 or 2, treatment for the disorder will be beneficial.
Anyone can experience bipolar disorder, so this test is for everyone. It's important to note that bipolar disorder can present differently in different people.
How is Bipolar Disorder Treated?
Since bipolar disorder is a severe psychiatric condition, mental health professionals will often recommend a combination of both medication and therapy. This quiz is not treatment, please reach out for help today after taking the quiz.
Psychotherapy
Individual and group therapy can have a significantly positive impact on the symptoms of bipolar disorder.
Approaches like dialectical behavior therapy, cognitive-behavioral therapy, solution-centered therapy, or family-oriented therapy provide some of the most widely used strategies for treating bipolar disorder. Bipolar disorder can be treated in a variety of ways via therapy.
With the help of a licensed counselor or therapist, you can acquire healthy coping strategies that help you maintain emotional stability and manage sudden mood swings. After this bipolar disorder test, be sure to reach out to a professional about the symptoms you experience with bipolar disorder or other potential disorders not mentioned in the quiz.
Medication
Most experts agree that drug therapy is a first-line treatment for bipolar disorder. In other words, it’s almost impossible to achieve recovery in the absence of pharmacological interventions.
Medication lowers the intensity of manic and depressive symptoms, thus cultivating emotional stability. This allows patients to focus on implementing lifestyle changes that help them manage their condition better.
In the most severe cases of mania or depression, hospitalization may be necessary.
Lifestyle changes
As always, your day-to-day habits can influence your ability to handle the emotional instability associated with this condition.
Adopting a healthy lifestyle can be an essential part of your overall recovery and reduce symptoms mentioned in the quiz. This can include giving up on psychoactive substances, adopting a regular sleep schedule, and regular exercise. Those with bipolar symptoms mentioned in the quiz frequently report that meditation and yoga are helpful.
Again, regardless of the symptoms you are experiencing and whether or not you scored symptomatic in the quiz, there is help our there to improve your mental health and decrease the symptoms mentioned in the quiz.
