Bipolar or manic-depressive disorder is a mood disorder that causes intense emotional changes and mood swings from manic “high” to “low” depressive. The majority of bipolar patients experience alternating episodes of mania and depression. In the U.S., more than two million people have been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. This is the sixth in a series of cause of disability worldwide. The average age of onset is from puberty until the middle of the third decade. But because of the complexity of the disorder the correct diagnosis can be delayed for many years.
Bipolar disorder type 1 is characterised by the presence of manic episodes in human life. A person with manic episode often has feelings of overestimation of oneself and euphoria, becomes intensely talkative, characterized by a strong social disinhibition and extroversion with simultaneously inadequate monitoring of impulsions, parallel jobs with multiple activities simultaneously with irritability, impatience, decreased need for sleep. In severe cases, the person can have hallucinations and delusional psychotic thoughts that most commonly confer a sense of grandeur. Usually, the manic phase is followed by a period of depression. Mixed situations where manic and depressive symptoms occur simultaneously, are met relatively frequently in bipolar patients.