Bipolar disorder is a psychiatric illness.  It is a disorder in the mood levels of a person.  Clinically speaking, if the person experiences an abnormally high or mild mood swing more than once, then the condition is diagnosed as bipolar disorder.  It is very essential that one knows about bipolar disorder because in today’s stressed conditions, everyone is undergoing mental tensions of different forms.  HenceTherfore, awareness about an illness is the first step in overcoming it.

The abnormally high-mood swing is called  mania and the corresponding low-mood swing is called depression. Sometimes, there are mixed episodes when mania as well as depression occurs at the same time.  When the mania is in a mild form it is called as hypomania.  The more one tries to learn about bipolar disorder and the extent to which this illness can affect a person is indeed heart-wrenching. More often than not, an individual could sometimes experience a regular or normal mood in between the two extremes of mania and depression. Or it could be a cyclic occurrence clinically called  rapid cycling.  Sometimes, a manic occurrence develops into extreme conditions. This increased level of mania is a symptom called  delusion or hallucination. 

More studies about bipolar disorder have revealed that the disorder occurs over a wide spectrum.  The mood swings occur from mild high to extreme depression.  Therefore, each degree of mood swing is categorized as a bipolar disorder and named as Bipolar I, Bipolar II, Cyclothamia etc.  This helps the practicing psychiatrist to diagnose with accuracy the type of bipolar disorder the patient has.  It also helps in prescribing the correct medicines to help the patient overcome these episodes combined with counseling and medical treatments.

At this stage, a question could arise about bipolar disorder.  How or why does this condition happen? Experts say it is a combination of environmental factors influencing genetic abnormalities for  bipolar disorder to occur in a person. But sometimes, bipolar disorder with high levels of mania or depression is wrongly diagnosed as another mental disorder called schizophrenia. In the U.S. alone, bipolar disorder has about 1%  Bipolar  I; .5-1%  Bipolar  II and about 2-5% fall just below the margin of bipolar disorder level.

Another question that arises about bipolar disorder is at what ages it occurs? This condition is more prevalent at the start of adulthood and the end stages of adolescence.  The condition is diagnosed based on the information the patient is able to give the psychiatrist.  Sometimes, additional data from care-givers and family also helps in identifying the type of  disorder. One needs to be aware that abnormal behavior like distress as well as destructive and suicidal tendencies, could occur especially when the patient is in a highly depressed mood.