Pharmaceutical companies have been aggressively campaigning and raising awareness of bipolar disorder to the public. Although radio and television has been limited in the information they can convey to the public, a lot of people have come to hear and know about this illness, but have not really understood this sickness or its medication.
Understanding some of the basic bipolar symptoms and bipolar medication treatments is very important before delving into the comprehensive. For both the common bipolar symptoms and medications, a brief overview is provided.
From overly high/and or irritable to sad and hopeless and then back again bipolar disorder causes dramatic mood swings, often with normal mood in between. Severe changes in behavior and energy go along with these changes in mood. The periods of highs is called mania and lows depression episodes. Bipolar disorder is characterized by extreme mood swings from mania to depression. The pattern of highs and lows varies for each person. For some people, episodes of mania or depression can last for weeks or months, while for others, mood swings are shorter and more frequent. Coping with bipolar disorder and the mood swings it brings can be difficult. Symptoms of bipolar disorders and its brief overview are as follows:
Manic Mood Symptoms of Bipolar Disorder
-Being excessively irritable these people experience delusions of grandeur and euphoric feelings of being “high” that can lead to overly optimistic.
-People commonly experience an increase in energy and a decreased need for sleep. A person’s speech may be pressured, Attention span is low and a person in a manic state may be easily distracted. Judgment may become blurred.
-They experience thoughts that just can’t go away; this thoughts can be in the background with other thoughts or take over a person’s consciousness altogether.
-Sufferers may go on spending sprees or engage in behavior that is quite abnormal for them.
Depressed Mood Symptoms of Bipolar Disorder
-Extremely low energy levels combined with feelings of hopelessness, sadness, or despair.
-Usually these people are very tired and quickly irritated, and do not have any sleeping patterns whatsoever.
-Guilt pervades ones thoughts with excessive shame.
-Loss of appetite and, possible, even excess eating binging are common.
-Persistent thoughts of death or suicide.
Bipolar Medications
When it comes to the pharmaceutical treatments of bipolar disorder, there is no standard, uniformed combination of bipolar medication that will deliver the same results in different patients. However, there is a finite pool of drugs that are utilized to aid in calming the negative effects of bipolar disorder. These medications generally include anti-depressants, mood stabilizers/anti-psychotic, and anti-anxiety drugs.
Some of the most common anti-depressant prescribed drugs include Wellbutrin, Zoloft and Effexor. These medications are for raising the patient’s mood and their levels of energy.
The most prescribed drugs to calm down the mania side of the bipolar illness are Lithium, Risperdal, Seroquel, and Geocodon. These anti-psychotic and mood stabilizer drugs are used to restore and calm down patients or tone down people with bipolar manic disorder.
Anti-anxiety drugs have fallen out of favor with some psychiatrists as a treatment for bipolar disorder. However, there are still many doctors that prescribe it to bring down excessive highs and panic attacks. Xanax, Ativan, and Klonopin.
Drugs that are prescribed to patients are given in different dosages and combinations. To determine whether the treatment should be modified or continued; monthly visits to the doctors is highly advised.
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