Bipolar Disorder: Is It Drug Use or Bipolar?

Bipolar disorder is often mis-diagnosed. In the layman’s view, the behavior of a person showing bipolar behavior often resembles a person on some sort of street drug.

Bipolar is the updated name for what was once called manic depression. It is a mood disorder that causes one to feel intense emotions that swing between deep depression and to high levels of euphoria and confidence. While in the depressive state, the person will obviously feel very depressed. In addition, he will be withdrawn, isolated, hardly functioning and will sleep much more than normal. In the pendulum opposite or the manic phase, a person will feel happy, high and euphoric. They will feel like they are “on top of the world”, hyper-energetic, overly confident and will sleep much less than usual. During this manic phase, one will often also engage is high risk behavior and high impulsivity.

These moods and emotions can turn without notice, and there is no set time-frame between depression to manic. A “low” can last from hours to months, then instantaneously turn to a “high”, also lasting from hours to months.

In between the depressive and manic episodes, a person can often live a normal life and be considered well. For some, the episodes go from one to another continually. For those who are diagnosed to be a mild case, the extreme pendulum of moods could happen only a few times within a lifetime or the moods swings will not be so extreme.

Types of bipolar disorder.

There are two main types.

Type I is considered the more severe between the two. It is characterized by manic or mixed episodes, followed by a major depressive episode. The episodes are usually longer lasting. Due to the high-risk and irrational behavior in the manic stage, Type 1 has a higher chance of resulting in risky behavior and life-altering consequences. In addition, it adds more worry to their loved ones.

Type 2 is more depression dominant. It has all of the components of Type 1 however less severe.

Bipolar disorder and addiction .

The behaviors can look like one or the other, and can be confusing for the loved ones. More-so, often addicts suffer from bipolar disorder as a co-existing condition. The National Library of Medicine states that approximately 40% of substance use disorder patients are also Bipolar 1 patients.

It is a natural evolution that the two diagnosis are often seen together. Before a Bipolar patients gets proper treatment, they will often self-medicate; using the quick fix drugs they find through friends and the streets. This can then leads to addiction.

Another concerning statistic is that people with no history of mental illness can develop Bipolar Disorder as a result of drug use. The behavior of someone in a manic phase can look like a person on cocaine. Or a person in a depressive phase call look like they are on oxycodone or cannibis. This is quite concerning and leaves psychiatrists and mental health professionals frustrated because the treatment for Bipolar Disorder is much different than the treatment for addiction.

How bipolar disorder is diagnosed.

Due to the crossover and overlapping behaviors as explained, and the complexities of Bipolar, it is notoriously mis-diagnosed, or diagnosed later that it should have been. At a minimum, it is difficult to pinpoint.

A good psychiatrist will evaluate, watch and ask deep questions. An internet diagnosis for bipolar is an irresponsible quest. A good psychiatrist is worth the time and money to get proper help and guidance.

Obtaining a proper diagnosis.

This is a mental health illness that must be treated with medication. It is imperative that the diagnosis is proper, in order to prescribe the correct medication. Too many times, this patient will slip between the cracks or get mis-diagnosed, lead to dangerous behavior, severe depression and self-medication, of which can lead to addiction.

A complete evaluation performed by a licensed psychiatrist is the best and first step to treatment for Bipolar Personality Disorder.

If a higher level of treatment is needed, Therapeutic Educational Consulting will recommend and guide through best-fit options. Schedule a no-cost discovery call with Rae Guyer, your therapeutic consultant to discuss options.

Photo by Yuri A.