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Understanding Bipolar Disorder
by Dr. Todd W. Hall, Ph.D.
From the time Tracy was in early adolescence, she had “hyper” spells for several days at a time. She would read two or three books at once, cook large quantities of food even though she normally did not like to cook, and go on buying sprees. At first, Tracy’s family thought this was normal adolescent behavior. But after awhile they began to notice that Tracy had low spells after her hyper periods. She stayed in her room for several days and refuse to talk to anyone. Her cycles became more intense and frequent until Tracy was finally hospitalized for a suicide attempt during one of her depressed periods.
In another case, John started displaying an extremely high level of energy, began sleeping less than three hours nightly, and started talking excitedly about some big plans and ideas with nearly everyone he met. One night he started running at 1:00 A.M. and ran until he was so exhausted that he fell down and injured himself. Then he stayed up the rest of the night writing 100 pages of fiction that he was convinced would be published. The next morning he did not feel tired.
Tracy and John were both suffering from bipolar disorder—one of the most perplexing and severe psychiatric adjustment conditions, and one that can cause incredible suffering for the individual and his friends and family.
Formerly known as manic depression, bipolar disorder gets its name from the unpredictable mood swings ranging from the pole of extreme highs (mania) to the pole of deep lows (depression).
Imagine the emotional high you feel after a very positive event—like receiving an award at work, falling in love, or reaching the top of a mountain you’ve climbed. Then multiply the intensity of that feeling three or four times, speed it up to “fast forward,” triple your energy level, and imagine feeling that way around the clock for days, weeks, or even months until you collapse from exhaustion. This is a little of what mania feels like.
 At least one person of
every one hundred suffers
from bipolar disorder.
What’s the problem with having so much energy? here’s the problem: First, you are probably doing a lot of exaggerated, unwise things during your manic state. Many of your ideas are unrealistic and your perpetual motion and excited, exaggerated talking tend to alienate even the best of friends. Second, your high to end. When it does, you come crashing into deep depression. Ten to fifteen percent of people with bipolar disorder end up committing suicide. Tracy, for example, whom we introduced at the beginning of this booklet, became suicidally depressed after she came down from a manic episode. “There’s no hope,” she said. “My mood swings just get worse and worse, and I’ll never have a normal life.” She lost interest in most things and slept through of the day, finally trying to “end it all.”
At least one person of every one hundred suffers from bipolar disorder. The illness typically begins in the late teens or early twenties with men most likely to first have an episode of mania, and women more likely to first experience a depressive phase. The earlier bipolar disorder begins, the more severe the course of the disorder tends to be.
Unmanaged bipolar disorder wreaks havoc in one’s personal, vocational, and family life, and the symptoms recur throughout a person’s life. Over a ten-year period, people with bipolar disorder experience an average of four episodes and five hospitalizations. Even those who have few repeated crises can experience significant ongoing problems between full-blown episodes.
The good news is that bipolar disorder is one of the most treatable of mental disturbances and not all people suffering serious mood swings fall into the extreme disturbances of bipolar disorder. Some suffer from cyclothymic disorder, a less severe problem with fluctuating moods that last for shorter periods and are much less debilitating.
Although bipolar disorder causes significant disruption in the sufferer’s life, many people with mild to moderate forms of the disorder are exceptionally creative and forceful leaders. In fact, some of history’s most influential figures have been retrospectively judged to have suffered from bipolar disorder or some other closely related emotional disorder. Among them are political figures like Winston Churchill, Daniel Webster and Benito Mussolini. Religious leaders like Joseph Smith (founder of Mormonism), William Cowper (poet and hymnwriter), and C.T. Studd (founder of the student missionary movement) all seem to have suffered from bipolar disorder.
Mania
People in a “manic episode” are excessively elated, irritable, moody, and energetic. They have little need for sleep (two to three hours per night is common), have rapid and pressured speech, racing thoughts, and may jump abruptly to unrelated topics without transitions. They are also distractible and impulsive. Some drive recklessly. Others go on wild spending sprees, running up thousands of dollars on credit cards or bouncing check after check. Many have an exaggerated sense of their importance and abilities.
 Continued on Page Two
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