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bipolar/manic depression

Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
ok... basically what i would like to know is, when the sufferer is happy or sad, is it for a reason? i mean, is there something that feeling that way could be blamed on, like having a fight or missing someone, or does it just happen for absolutely no reason?

Comments

  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I have bipolar and my doc says its a chemical imbalance in my brain which determines whether im happy or not.
    im not sure if you can trigger it as such because when im in a happy mood and something bad happens my brain doesnt throw me into depression i can deal with the problem. I think you can definately feel worse though..I mean if youre feeling lousy and something bad happens you cant deal with it and youre bound to feel worse. But on the other hand, if I feel really depressed, you could give me a million pounds and I wouldn't smile - there's no cheering me...
    Good God this depression thing is complicated!
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Like kitty kat said, i also have a chemical imbalance. Most of my family has either been bi-polar, had histrionic personality disorder, schizophrenia or manic depression. So it was a good chance i would get one of those. Thankfully i only have a little bit of schizophrenia, and somehow i got diagnosed with body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) with depression. but With medications and me not eating carbohydrates alot has help tons.
    (I copied this from the depression article)
    Causes

    Depression can be caused by factors like bereavement, events in childhood, stress and relationship difficulties, or internal problems linked to hormone imbalance, changes in brain chemistry or blood sugar levels.

    Most cases are successfully treated with medication plus some form of therapy such as counselling.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    http://cebmh.warne.ox.ac.uk/balance/

    this study is running all over the country and might be worth looking into.

    My Boss is one of the lead researchers on it, so if anyone wants to pm me about it feel free.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    my dad is a manic depressive and his is normally triggered when something very stressful happens, normally at work, he then can't sleep which sends him high and eventually, with lithium etc. he gets brought down and sleeps all the time with depression.
    for him i think there is some kind of trigger, but its not like something happy that makes him go high, more stress i think.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Apparently, we might have a strain of amnic depression in the family and I've suspected that I've inherited cyclothymia, which is like a milder form of bipolar because I have most of the symptons.

    Anyway, the doctors had been talking about putting me on Lithium, but I refused medication at the time. However, my problems started to get worse and eventually I settled for a mild antidepressent called Zispin. I hate medication, in my opinion, the doctors use it to zombify patients so they stop coming to ask for help. Then if you come back you gotta wait months for councilling or therapy, although I was put near the top of the list because I've been in a psych unit before and very severely depressed.

    I think cyclothemia can often occur as an aftermath of long term depression... wait... I'll answer your question >.<

    What causes the mood changes?

    I'd say that they come and go in waves. You can be depressed for weeks, completely withdrawn, drowing in a black lake of slef pity. And depression is one of the greatest trials I personally have ever been through, it's spiritual torture, it's despair to the point that pain almost seems beautiful... in a twisted way. And it comes without reason, it'll just slowly creep up on you... and then you lose everything.

    The high moods for me don't last long, a period of a few days and even them I have to sometimes withdraw myself. Confidence goes up to a silly amount and you'll be all happy and dancing and sometimes you'll get too high and will talk faster than you can think and will start twitching...

    And this fucking medication I hate with a passion. For I've lost the ability to write because of it... and being without the ability to create for me is like being a bird without wings.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    my da is manic depressive , it is real annoying, he is real happy one minute then the next he is really sad. :eek2:
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Well i had bipolar, and yes its a chemical imbalance and you dont need anything to trigger it off, but if something bad happens a lot of the time it can throw you further down than you would be otherwise, and if something even slightly good happens, it can throw you further up. For me, it just magnified everything sometimes, and at other times, there wasnt much change.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    depression from holding on to the past can definitely have effect but as far as a reason, in short;no. sometimes it's not a feeling of being sad but of just not caring at all. one thing you can count on is that as sure as the sun rises and sets, personality and mood will change from one extreme to the other. it doesn't go away, you can't fix yourself and no amount of personal success will keep it at bay. it's just a matter of time.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Spot On, Creeper...that's exactly what I go through with my symptoms. I've described it to people almost word for word. It made me feel better to read that someone out there understands this torture.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Hiya LegionXY.

    You seem to want to talk about bipolar, but this is a really old thread (the date is in the red bar at the top) so most of these users aren't around, and you'll get a better response if you start your own new thread.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    piccolo wrote: »
    Hiya LegionXY.

    You seem to want to talk about bipolar, but this is a really old thread (the date is in the red bar at the top) so most of these users aren't around, and you'll get a better response if you start your own new thread.



    Thanks Picollo
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