Bipolar affective disorder
Bipolar affective disorder often causes difficult periods in life. The diagnosis and correct treatment of the illness provide an opportunity for a better quality of life and a good, normal daily life.
There are many different misconceptions about bipolar affective disorder. Some may think that the life of the person is a continuous battle with mania and depression and irresponsible behaviour. However, in most cases, you can learn to live a normal life with its joys, sorrows and dreams.
Bipolar affective disorder can often cause chaos in life when it breaks out and before it’s diagnosed, in which case depression, hypomanias or manias or their mixed states dominate life temporarily. This still doesn’t mean that the rest of the person’s life would just be full of uncontrollable waves.
What are the symptoms of bipolar affective disorder?
Bipolar affective disorder is a long-term mental health disorder with episodes of depression, hypomania, mania or mixed states.
There are two types of bipolar affective disorder. A diagnosis requires that at least one episode has been manic or slightly manic, that is, hypomanic. In mania, the person’s mood is clearly elevated abnormally for at least one week. In mania, the person can be restless, active, talkative, uninhibited and reckless. The symptoms of hypomania resemble mania, but they are milder.
If the person’s mood is clearly manic during the episode, it’s called type I. If the episode is hypomanic, it’s called type II. A mixed episode is a state in which the symptoms of both depression and mania occur during the same episode.
Approximately one per cent of adults suffer from bipolar affective disorder, which means approximately 56,000 Finns. Susceptibility to the illness is hereditary. 90% of patients experience the first symptoms between the ages of 15 and 35.
How is bipolar affective disorder diagnosed?
It’s common that bipolar affective disorders cannot be identified and diagnosed immediately for certain, but that diagnosis requires longer-term monitoring, usually for years. However, various pharmacotherapies can be tested starting from early symptoms.
For many people, the mere suspicion of bipolar disorder can be a relief, as it often explains difficult life cycles with which the person may have lived for a long time. Problematic and uncontrolled behaviour and susceptibility to depression may have caused a lot of shame and anxiety. The diagnosis and correct treatment of the illness provide an opportunity for a better quality of life and a good, normal daily life.
In self-care, it’s important to learn to recognise the precursor symptoms of episodes, in which case self-care and a physician’s care can be used to intervene in the course of the illness.
How is bipolar affective disorder treated?
Most people with bipolar affective disorder can live a normal, full life after correct treatment is started. Even when a person has been reckless during a manic episode, everything can usually be repaired. Finding your own rhythm and not giving up on dreams and goals is important in addition to treatment.
In treatment, the most important thing is the correct medication and committing to it, as well as the ability to accept that the susceptibility to depression and hypomania or mania exists. Medication evens out mood fluctuations, and self-knowledge and regular routines help you learn to manage and prevent episodes in advance. Many people benefit from psychotherapy, which can help them accept the illness, find good ways to live with it and have a positive attitude to life.
Recurring episodes can be reduced or even completely prevented by correct treatment, and the illness may remain almost asymptomatic for several years.
