Bipolar Disorder used to be called Manic-Depressive illness until professionals realized that the label was a marked misnomer. For instance, those who manifest bipolar depression rarely have a direct succession of periods of manic phases and alternating depressive stages. Instead, many who have the disorder may have a tendency toward phases of manic periods and not depression or vice versa, but at least once in their lifetime, they can recall a period in which both phases claimed symptoms.

Many who have the illness are highly functioning and intelligent people. Unfortunately, the media can paint a distorted picture of what the disorder is and what it means for the persons who have the illness. This article attempts to outline signs and symptoms of the disorder and, in doing so, hopes to dispell the myths that plague its sufferers.

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual-IV(otherwise known as the DSM-IV) is the manual used by professionals to make an official diagnosis. They identify 'manic syndrome' as a distinct period of abnormally and persistently elevated, expansive, or irritable mood. When presented for clinical diagnosis, the person is often in a full manic state. However, some manifest these symptoms gradually. For instance, a person may decide to read the bible daily. As time ensues, they spend more time than is normal reading what are in the scriptures, and may take special meaning from them. As the illness continues, they may now believe that God is speaking to them directly, or even believe that they too are God-like.

In essence, this mood encourages an inflated self-esteem or sense of grandiosity. Moreover, as a result of obsessive reliance on the mood, sleep becomes less available to the person. They may even report needing fewer hours to feel rested. The speech in a manic episode is often incessant and the person may feel pressured to keep talking. Later, sufferers report a feeling that if they stopped they knew they would 'crash.' To avoid feeling bereft, they felt compelled to continue. As the person talks, an observer may notice flight of ideas in their thought processes, or the person may have a subjective experience that their thoughts are racing. Much of the attention and focus of the manic phase is distracted, or the person may seem too easily drawn to unimportant or irrelevant external things.

Despite the deficit in attention, the person may show an increase in goal directed activity. This activity may involve social concerns or work/school, or even sexual drives. Some may demonstrate psychomotor agitation. Unfortunately, this activity may lead to excessive involvement in pleasurable activities that have a high risk component to them. In other words, the person engages in unrestrained buying sprees, sexual indiscretions or foolish business involvements. One of the markers for this illness is that rather than these feeling pleasurable to the person, there is a sense of hysteria to their focus on them.

Moreover, this mood disturbance is sufficiently severe enough to cause an impairment in occupational, relationship, or social functioning. Sometimes, the person must be hospitalized in order to prevent harm to self or others. However, the person is not delusional and understands that 'something' is wrong.

Contrarily, the major depressive syndrome of the illness manifests in a depressed or irritable mood most of the day, nearly every day, as indicated either by subjective account or observations by others. In addition, there is a diminished interest or pleasure in all, or almost all, activities most of the day, nearly every day.

Due to this lack of interest, the person may demonstrate significant weight loss or weight gain when not dieting. Some sufferers complain of a decrease or increase in appetite nearly every day. Similarly, insomnia or hypersomnia is also an issue for the person in a major depressive syndrome. The bipolar person may now show a psychomotor retardation that is significantly different from the psychomotor agitation of the manic phase of the illness.

Invariably, at this phase of the illness, the person complains of fatigue or loss of energy nearly every day. The effort it takes to perform daily activities may encourage feelings of worthlessness or excessive or inappropriate guilt nearly every day. In other words, they may borrow other's problems as their responsibility.

As in the manic phase of the illness, the bipolar person may have a diminished ability to think or concentrate aand show indecisiveness for seemingly insignificant decisions. However, in this stage, the person may complain about the issue whereas in the manic phase others may see the problem more clearly than the sufferer.

Most significantly, the person in the depressive stage of the illness may posess recurrent thoughts of death or have recurrent suicidal ideation without a specific plan, or have made a suicide attempt, or demonstrate a specific plan for committing suicide. All of these thoughts are of grave concern, as they indicate a lack of hope in something being able to improve their situation.

As has been outlined, this illness conveys numerous symptoms that may befuddle caring loved ones. Moreover, they require outside help to bring the person back to the road of recovery. Research has improved the quantity as well as the quality of medications available to treat the illness.

For more information, contact in your area national or state licensed therapist whose expertise includes bipolar illness. If you have documentation of prior treatments or diagnoses, bring the documentation with you as it may help to make an appropriate diagnosis. Often, those who have bipolar illness may have been treated for a simple major clinical depression before a bipolar diagnosis was fully manifested. Share with the therapist your concerns re treatment and how to handle communication with co-workers, family members, and others. Remember, what seems insurmountable at first winds up being palatable when broken down into smaller steps. Seek outside help and ask as many questions as you need to feel comfortable.