Bipolar disorder is a mental illness that effects over 2 millions American adults every single year. Because it is a recurrent illness it can be very difficult to treat; patients may think they are feeling better and stop the treatment but this will only see the problems recurring. It is difficult to spot bipolar disorder symptoms because the nature of the illness means that patients spend as much time in a state of mania (up) as they do in depression. It should be fairly easy to notice when a person who is close to you goes through this cycle on a regular basis and the second you see evidence of it you should make an appointment to see the sufferer’s physician. They will be able to refer you to a psychiatrist if required.

Severe cases of either of the swings associated with bipolar disease can lead to symptoms of psychosis which can include hallucination and delusions. These should also be very easy to spot but it is unlikely that the sufferer themselves will do so.

morbid thoughts are the most worrying of symptoms and many people subconsciously ignore them in the hope they go away. However, if you suspect the patient is having morbid thoughts and contemplating suicide you should act immediately to prevent the worst from happening. If necessary call 911.

Depression can be spotted quite easily too but can be overlooked as just being a down day. A sad or anxious mood that lasts for an extended period of time is the most obvious sign of depression and the first thing you should look for. Other signs include a loss of interest in things that would have previously caused excitement, including hobbies or sex.

Manic episodes can be easy to spot and include an increase in energy and a euphoric mood. Obviously if a person has been depressed for any length of time and then suddenly shows these characteristics it is likely to be very evident and easily noticed. Other signs of mania can include an increased sex drive, a lack of concentration, spending sprees and many more.

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Bipolar affective disease is a recurring illness that means if left untreated it can continue indefinitely. It is very important that a patient who suffers from bipolar affective disorder is treated for the disease not only when it is diagnosed but also through the course of their lives. Without this continued treatment it will resurface and bring with it the many problems associated with it. A patient with bipolar affective disorder suffers from exaggerated mood swings and can alternate between very high (referred to as mania) and very low (referred to as depression) moods. These swings can last days or they can last weeks but it is an ongoing cycle that will only stop with ongoing treatment.

Bipolar affective disorder can be effectively treated through a combination of mood stabilizer drugs and psychotherapy. It is important that the patient sees a psychiatrist in preference to a physician because while any doctor can prescribe the required medication only a psychiatrist can really help.

It is not possible to diagnose bipolar affective disorder physiologically, i.e. through a blood test or a scan or x-ray and the only real way to tell is through psychoevaluation and a judgment on any symptoms that have presented themselves. There are some physical symptoms but these can be attributed to a number of other diseases.

Bipolar affective disorder has a detrimental effect not only on the patient’s life but also on the people around them. They will need the love and care of those closest to them in order to help them through both the good and the bad days and to ensure they take their medication on time every time.

1 percent of the American population suffer from bipolar affective disorder. That is roughly 2 million American adults. Yet it is still often misdiagnosed or simply not treated as a disease. It has to be taken very seriously by everyone concerned if the patient is to have a reasonable chance of recovery.

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For quite some time, I’ve been noticing that many of the individuals who visit my disability site are looking for disability benefit information, primarily as it relates to bipolar disorder.

While I haven’t found it surprising that this would happen (bipolar disorder is a terrible neurochemical illness and is much more than its constituent parts–depression and manic behavior–would imply), I have to admit, I have been surprised at the level of occurrence. Put simply, there are many more bipolar cases out there than even I would have thought.

You may be wondering: why was I surprised and what is my particular background to account for this surprise. Well, I am a former medicaid caseworker and, more relevantly, I am a former disability claims examiner for the social security administration. In that latter capacity, it was my function to, on a daily basis, receive new disability cases, send off for medical records, review the records when they came in, and, then, in consultation with a physician, render a decision on a claim.

I did this job for several years and, as a consequence, I may have come across nearly every (though, certainly, not all) medical condition for which a person might imaginably file for
disability benefits. And without a doubt, I came across a fair number of cases for which bipolar disorder was a primary allegation. But I don’t recall seeing as many bipolar cases then as I currently see now.

What could be the reason for the rise in bipolar disorder cases? I’ve wondered about that many times. Some individuals might say that the illness is being overdiagnosed, and that opinion has
been leveled at ADHD. But, I don’t think this is the case and here’s why: Bipolar disorder typically requires the use of prescription medication for proper management. Bipolar also frequently occurs in combination with other illnesses, such as OCD, or obsessive compulsive disorder and ADHD, or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (and, yes, it is not unheard of for a patient to be concurrently treated for all these conditions). Of course, ANYONE who has ever been put on a medication treatment regimen that attempts to treat multiple conditions simultaneously will know automatically what sorts of problems this may pose.

What are those problems? For starters, a medication that works just fine for ten million other patients may not work at all for just one. Or, it may work fine for awhile and then not work at
all. Or there may be side effects to the medication that are somewhat unpleasant and/or stimulate other psychological issues (weight gain, sexual performance issues, to name a couple). Throw in more prescription meds to treat other conditions (in our example, we cited OCD and ADHD) and you enter into the equation even more variables: will med A negate the potency of med B, will med B overenhance the effects of med C, will med C in combination with med A cause other physical or mental issues to surface, etc, etc.

For these reasons (all boiling down to the fact that very strong medications with very strong effects and consequences are being prescribed), I sincerely doubt that bipolar disorder is being
overdiagnosed, or is even misidentified on a large scale.
In fact, quite the opposite may be happening. That is, mental health professionals may simply be improving in their ability to properly diagnose this condition. Additionally, individuals with
bipolar disorder may, as a consequence of greater recognition and understanding of their illness, be more willing to initiate disability applications.

One might ask “Why would someone not file for disability benefits when they have a condition that affects them so profoundly”? This may go back to that “greater recognition and understanding part”. I’ll reference this example, which, in my case, comes from my personal life. I have an in-law who currently is treated with outpatient shock therapy. For the sake of confidentiality, I’ll refer to him as Bob. Among his various diagnosed conditions, Bob has a particularly severe case of bipolar disorder. And for many years, he was unable, despite many attempts, to maintain employment for longer than 90 days. Yet, despite this fact, despite his many problems with getting the right medications, and despite the fact that he has been receiving ECT (electroconvulsive therapy) for more than a year—he still has at least two family members who somehow think “he should have tried harder”.

Such thinking is incomprehensible, of course, given the facts of Bob’s situation. However, the stance taken by these family members probably had much to do with why Bob did not file a
disability application much sooner. Also, the pressure put on Bob by members of his family to “keep trying to work” may have hastened his descent into auditory hallucinations and shock therapy.

Therefore, “if” the rise in disability applications filed on the basis of bipolar disorder can be accounted for by either or both of the following—

1. an increased ability of mental health professionals to recognize the disease.

2. an increased empathy and understanding of bipolar disorder on the part of family members.

—then this is certainly a good thing.

Whether this is actually happening, of course, is a matter that is subject to debate. But, in any event, more information is always, intrinsically and inherently, valuable. And to this end, the following information may be helpful to a bipolar patient who has either filed for disability benefits or is considering filing: The Social Security Disability and SSI FAQ page from my own site.

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