Psychosis/psychotic symptoms as part of bipolar disorder?
I’ve heard of occasional psychotic symptoms (auditory and visual hallucinations, delusions, etc) manifesting themselves in some instances of bipolar disorder. Is this a common symptom? If so, does it occur more during depression or mania? Any thoughts on this would be appreciated.
You can have severe psychotic episodes associated with specific conditions related to a bipolar disorder. Bipolar itself actually just a broad term that collectively includes other disorders that more specific to certain cases. And yes some bipolar disorders can include psychotic episodes where a person is delusional, manic even hallucinating.
With bipolar disorder itself you can have several different types of episodes or occurances of border-line to psychotic behavior. You can have a manic episode. This includes irritable mood, hyper sexual behavior, racing thoughts, unexplained euphoria. You can have a hypomanic episode which includes fewer behaviors than manic. Generally during hypomania they are energetic, creative, able to think well but still have racing thoughts.
You can have a major depressive episode which is pretty much the opposite of manic – hence the name bipolar. But in this episode one experiences periods of depression, isolation, uncontrolable crying, anxiety, panic and so forth. Then you can have a have mixed episode where you experience both the symptoms from depression and mania.
In any one of these episodes it is possible, though rare, to experience hallucinations. What is more common is delusional thinking. For example mania can lead to extreme paranoia and thinking things like the government is out to get you, or your best friend is really lying to you, things like that. And then in a depressive or mixed state one might have delusional thoughts about suicide, believing they are worthless or that they are dying.
Where you do see a larger occurance of hallucinations, as well as other symptoms, is when a person who is bipolar uses drugs most commonly, alcohol, marijuana and crystal meth. Particularly alcohol and meth are considered to precipitate symptoms. For example alcohol is a depressant that causes the body to release endorphines. So for awhile a person feels the euphoria of these chemicals but then they come down, or drink too much and then experience a major depressive episode. And meth encourages states of mania and paranoia. Therefore a person who’s bipolar uses meth and starts to think they’re invincible or have powers over magic or they might believe aliens are trying to listen to their thoughts, for example.
Deffinately more delusional thinking than hallucinations in cases of bipolar disorder.
October 9th, 2010 at 9:13 am
i only get it during mania and only delusions…during that time i have the crazy belief that i have a mathematical theory of everything (despite the fact i normally can barely add in my head
which after the episode passes makes no sense to me
none of that stuff during depression though
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October 9th, 2010 at 9:23 am
It can happen during either mania or depression but is more common in mania.
And it’s not uncommon.
References :
October 9th, 2010 at 10:02 am
You can have severe psychotic episodes associated with specific conditions related to a bipolar disorder. Bipolar itself actually just a broad term that collectively includes other disorders that more specific to certain cases. And yes some bipolar disorders can include psychotic episodes where a person is delusional, manic even hallucinating.
With bipolar disorder itself you can have several different types of episodes or occurances of border-line to psychotic behavior. You can have a manic episode. This includes irritable mood, hyper sexual behavior, racing thoughts, unexplained euphoria. You can have a hypomanic episode which includes fewer behaviors than manic. Generally during hypomania they are energetic, creative, able to think well but still have racing thoughts.
You can have a major depressive episode which is pretty much the opposite of manic – hence the name bipolar. But in this episode one experiences periods of depression, isolation, uncontrolable crying, anxiety, panic and so forth. Then you can have a have mixed episode where you experience both the symptoms from depression and mania.
In any one of these episodes it is possible, though rare, to experience hallucinations. What is more common is delusional thinking. For example mania can lead to extreme paranoia and thinking things like the government is out to get you, or your best friend is really lying to you, things like that. And then in a depressive or mixed state one might have delusional thoughts about suicide, believing they are worthless or that they are dying.
Where you do see a larger occurance of hallucinations, as well as other symptoms, is when a person who is bipolar uses drugs most commonly, alcohol, marijuana and crystal meth. Particularly alcohol and meth are considered to precipitate symptoms. For example alcohol is a depressant that causes the body to release endorphines. So for awhile a person feels the euphoria of these chemicals but then they come down, or drink too much and then experience a major depressive episode. And meth encourages states of mania and paranoia. Therefore a person who’s bipolar uses meth and starts to think they’re invincible or have powers over magic or they might believe aliens are trying to listen to their thoughts, for example.
Deffinately more delusional thinking than hallucinations in cases of bipolar disorder.
References :
October 9th, 2010 at 10:14 am
Yes, it can be a very common symptom in bipolar disorder. It happens in a manic phase of the bipolar persons life. If not treated immediately, this can be a very dangerous time. Without the ability to know what is reality and what is not — what is right and what is wrong — bad things can happen. There can also be mixed phases where someone is psychotic with depressive moods — this is when suicide becomes a danger.
Bipolar disorder can be a very scary illness for both the sufferer and the people around them.
For the sufferer it is important to reach out (when and if they’re able) to friends and loved ones and create a plan of action to implement when they need help.
For friends and loved ones, it is important to not run away from the problem — your bipolar friend needs your help (even though they might not think so at the time) — not your scorn or judgement. If they’re not taking their meds, it’s usually because they don’t believe they need it (a common symptom of bipolar disorder are feelings of power — which plays into a person thinking they don’t need their meds).
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