On our planet, a relatively high percentage of people have a diagnosis of "bipolar disorder."It manifests itself, primarily in sharp mood swings. A person with a similar diagnosis can experience a state of euphoria, quickly replaced by a deep depression, and immediately feel the ability to perform something incredible. So, how to identify a person with bipolar affective disorder?
- Symptoms
- Symptoms
- Diagnosis
- Treatment
- Medications
- Psychosocial methods
- Alternative therapy
Symptoms of frustration
In most people with bipolar disorder, the disease begins with depression, and only a third of patients may have manic manifestations of the diagnosis. Many of them claim that long before the onset of the deep depression they periodically experienced a sense of change in themselves, unusual events and processes took place with them.
Characteristics of the personality with bipolar affective disorder. In the early stages of depression, the following symptoms are manifested:
- feeling of fatigue and exhaustion;
- a breakdown;
- a depressed mood;
- acute need for rest;
- uncertainty in their abilities;
- voltage;
- apathy;
- sleep disturbance;
- absent-mindedness;
- decreased sexual activity;
- inattention;
- irritability;
- weak concentration;
- suspiciousness;
- physical weakness;
- irritability;
- concern.
In the early stages of the manic state, the main symptoms of bipolar affective disorder are:
- sudden mood jumps;
- feeling of euphoria;
- rapidly emerging ideas;
- increased talkativeness;
- unexpected tides of strength;
- hypersensitivity to sound stimuli;
- activation of creative activity;
- sleep disorders;
- a heightened sense of self-worth;
- egocentrism;
- frequent use of alcohol and drugs;
- overestimated self-confidence;
- sense of superiority;
- heightened sexual interest;
- careless attitude to money, extravagance;
- a growing sense of anxiety;
- conflict;
- violation of the daily routine.
Symptoms of
Symptoms of bipolar affective personality disorder manifest themselves in the constantly changing periods of euphoria and deep depression. The length of such periods can stretch for years, and not always even the closest people can understand what exactly happens to a person.
Observing unusual behavior, it is worth remembering that sometimes it may not be a consequence of features of character, but a medical illness requiring medical intervention. As a rule, it is possible to diagnose bipolar affective personality disorder at the stage of a depressed state, when a person can visit thoughts of suicide.
In the depressive phase, bipolar disorder has four stages.
- In the initial stage there is a decline in mood, it is difficult for a person to please anything, and the surrounding reality seems to him hostile.
- The second stage is characterized by the development of a depressive state, a decrease in appetite, slowness in action, a decline in strength.
- The most severe is the third stage, when the manifestations of the disease are especially strong - a person acutely feels his uselessness, talks in a practically whisper, more and more often begins to think about suicide.
- At the fourth stage, it may seem that the problems have receded, and the condition becomes close to normal, the adequacy and liveliness increases, the person becomes more active.
The most dangerous manic phase, which has five stages.
- At the first stage in the manic phase there is increased cheerfulness and high spirits.
- The second stage is characterized by a certain aggravation of symptoms - loud speech, sudden laughter, distracted attention, the desire to perform a feat.
- The third stage is manifested in the maximum presence of symptoms and, in fact, the loss of the ability to control one's own behavior.
- The state of euphoria in the fourth stage continues to persist, but the person moves more calmly.
- The fifth stage outwardly resembles the norm, at this moment the adequacy returns.
Both phases - both depressive and manic - can have different time characteristics. In the presence of bipolar affective disorder in the manic phase, experiencing the first symptoms of the disease, a person may suffer from audible and visual hallucinations, as well as delusional ideas.
Diagnosis
To diagnose bipolar affective disorder, a specialist needs to collect data on the patient's condition, to find out the smallest details from relatives. First of all, the doctor is obliged to identify the features of the course of the disease, to clarify the presence or absence of depressive or manic states in the past, their duration and ways to remove a patient from them.
The diagnosis of "bipolar affective disorder" is always put in strict accordance with certain criteria. The psychiatrist determines the presence of certain signs of the disorder, the degree of their severity, and only then makes an accurate diagnosis. Based on the findings of the survey, the physician can isolate one of the two existing types of the disease depending on the manifesting symptoms:
- Bipolar disorder of the first type .It is given to patients who have previously experienced one or more manic episodes, regardless of the manifestation of the depressive phase. This type of disorder is often men;
- Bipolar disorder of the second type .For him, typically the manifestation of depressive episodes, which accompany one or more cases of weak manifestation of the manic phase. As a rule, this type of disease affects women.
Treatment of
To treat bipolar affective disorder is necessary only under the supervision of a psychiatrist, because a split personality is a serious disease that does not allow self-treatment. The appointment of medicines should be handled by specialists in the field of psychiatry, less often by therapists.
to the table of contents ^Drugs
Antidepressants are prescribed both in the active phase of a depressive episode and as a preventive agent. The list of such drugs is wide enough, they differ from each other not only by the mechanisms of therapeutic action, but also by the effect achieved and by-effects.
Timostabilizers are able to stabilize the emotional state, reduce the frequency and sharpness of mood swings. They are often used as a prophylactic. Drugs of this category were formerly called anticonvulsant drugs, since they were previously prescribed for the treatment of epilepsy and other diseases associated with convulsions.
The successful use of these drugs for the treatment of bipolar disorder began relatively recently. The most common ones are:
- Valproate and Carbamazepine are anticonvulsants that help to stabilize the mood, which are no less effective even in particularly difficult cases;
- Lithium salts are the most effective means of stabilizing a patient's mood and preventing subsequent exacerbations of the disease.
Treatment of psychopathic symptoms is successfully performed using neuroleptics that help get rid of delusions and hallucinations: haloperidol, quetiapine, rispaxol, trifthazine.
As a rule, people with a diagnosis of "bipolar disorder" are prescribed mood stabilizers. The duration of the course of taking such drugs can reach several years.
Other drugs, if necessary, are additionally assigned for a short time to eliminate manic or depressive conditions. To ensure maximum therapeutic effect, the doctor can prescribe a complex of anticonvulsants to the patient and recommend taking them along with lithium.
In recent years, active work is under way to study the therapeutic properties of new drugs that have an anticonvulsant effect - among them Lamotrigine, Gabapentin, Topiramate.
In addition to drug treatment, psychotherapy is also successfully applied, which can be done individually, in groups or in the form of family sessions. Here everything depends on the specific nature of the person's problems.
to the table of contents ^Psychosocial methods
Numerous studies have demonstrated the ability of psychosocial methods to reduce hospitalization of patients and improve the quality of life of patients with a split personality.
Such therapy should be addressed to psychologists and social workers, who in turn work in constant contact with the attending physician and jointly monitor changes in the health status of the ward. Depending on the specific course of the disease, the number of sessions, the frequency of their sessions and the duration is determined.
Methods:
- Conversation therapy helps people with bipolar disorder and their relatives understand the characteristics of the disease.
- Cognitive-behavioral therapy helps patients to understand their behavioral patterns.
- Family therapy helps reduce the level of tension between family members, which causes various symptoms of the disease.
- Psychological education helps to get acquainted with information about the specificity of the disease and the methods of treatment. This makes it possible to prevent relapse and seek help in a timely manner.
- Interpersonal or interpersonal therapy improves interpersonal relationships and the patient's return to society. Of course, you can achieve good results only when psychosocial therapy is used in strict combination with a prescribed course of treatment for a psychiatrist. to the table of contents ^
Alternative therapy
The list of ways to combat bipolar personality disorder is also supplemented by various alternative methods. One of them is electroconvulsive therapy .It is used exclusively in those cases when all the above methods are powerless or the effect from them is achieved extremely slowly.
This method is especially relevant when the patient aspires to suicide or acute psychosis. In some cases, the use of electroconvulsive therapy is allowed, when, due to physiological characteristics, the patient is not recommended medications. Of course, a decision on the need for such therapy should be taken in conjunction with family members of the patient.
The use of medicinal herbs and natural supplements is not well understood at present, so specialists can not give an unambiguous conclusion about their effectiveness.
It is believed that St. John's wort contains substances that can have a positive effect in treating bipolar disorder. However, along with this, it has the ability to reduce the effectiveness of certain medicines. There is also a danger that St. John's wort can provoke a manic condition in the patient.
A number of clinical studies have shown the effectiveness of omega-3 fatty acids found in fish oil in the treatment of bipolar disorder. They interact well with traditional drugs.