Common signs and symptoms of Bipolar Disorder:
Here are some of the more common symptoms of mania and depression. This image does not include all of the symptoms. For me personally I do feel all of those symptoms and more.
The Manic Prodrome.
These are the early signs that a manic episode is on the horizon. It is important to detect the early signs of a manic episode because you can then either prevent the episode or lessen the impact.
Because Bipolar disorder is progressive (meaning the episodes build in momentum) there is a prodrome period. This is a period of milder symptoms that precede the more severe symptoms.
The most common prodromal symptoms for mania tend to be an elevated mood, decreased need for sleep, and increased activity.
If you see any of your prodrome signs contact your doctor ASAP. For me personally, the lack of sleep is my first clue that I personally notice. I always contact my doctor right away to let her know that something may be coming when it has been two nights in a row of no sleep.
I have been diagnosed with Bipolar type I with psychosis. For me the psychosis comes in the form of voices. I hear the voices as if they were people in the same room with me. They are often loud and tell me to do things that I do not want to do, like commit suicide. Typically I hear them if a medication dosage is too high or too low. In fact I heard them for as long as I could remember and it wasn’t until I was put on medication that they stopped and I realized it wasn’t normal.
This is a sixteen minute long video that dives deep into Bipolar disorder with psychosis. In the video the speaker talks about the different types of Bipolar psychosis, signs or symptoms, and ways treatment is approached.
