Posted by blueboy on June 20, 2008, at 13:26:07
In reply to what is unipolar?, posted by happee_place on June 20, 2008, at 12:48:14
Unipolar means that you get depressed, either all the time or in periods that alternate with feeling normal or only slightly depressed.
Bipolar means that you have alternating periods of depression and unhealthy excitement.
In Bipolar I (formerly and more aptly called "manic depressive") the excited periods, called "mania", reach the level of psychosis. Manics run around the streets naked, try to buy ridiculously expensive things, can't hold a rational conversation, talk like machine guns, have sex with a lot of inappropriate people, and/or other bizarre behavior. There is difficulty sometimes differentiating between manic and schizophrenic symptoms.
In bipolar II, the manic episodes are called (confusingly) "hypomania", which does not mean that you are insufficiently manic, but that you have symptoms of mania which don't reach the level of psychosis. You can still do a lot of silly stuff. It's like mania but not as outrageous and can even be a period of extremely high productivity and energy.
One typical pattern of Bipolar II patients is periods of high achievement followed by periods of failure. Like, I was a partner in a big law firm and had a "nervous breakdown" where all I could do was watch tv for six months.
A lot of successful writers and artists are Bipolar II (or even Bipolar I, like Van Gogh). But it's very hard to hold a steady job, get through school, be married, or other stuff where you need to have a long period of reasonably consistent behavior. Also, it's one of most suicide-prone mental conditions.
poster:blueboy
thread:835400
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20080617/msgs/835642.html