Bipolar affective disorder is a spectrum disorder, which means the symptoms can be experienced to varying degrees and for varying durations.
There is no ‘normal’ set of symptoms or signs for someone with bipolar affective disorder.
Below are some of the most common symptoms of bipolar affective disorder.
Mania
Impulsive behaviour, can be high risk such as spending sprees, drug or alcohol abuse, sexual promiscuity, gambling excessively
Aggressive behaviour
Rapid Speech / talking over people
Increased energy, feeling wired or hyper
Being able to exist on very little sleep
Decreased appetite
Disorganised thoughts
Inflated self-esteem, believing you can do anything
Feeling very creative
Delusions:
Grandiose – believing you have special gifts and abilities
Persecutory – believing someone is after you or something really bad is about to happen
Hallucinations – can affect any of the senses, most commonly auditory
Hypomania
This is less severe than mania and can often be mistaken for simply being happy. It can be useful to think whether you, or someone you are worried about, has periods where they are:
Abnormally self-confident or social
Unusually talkative or hyper
Irritable or quick to anger
More easily distracted/having trouble concentrating
More involved in pleasurable activities, such as spending
Depression:
With bipolar often comes depression and depressive states such as:
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