Bipolar Disorder

Bipolar disorder is a mental health condition that is estimated to impact about 2.8% of the population. Having bipolar disorder can bring severe changes in mood, sleep, thinking, and behavior and can interfere with people’s ability to perform tasks of daily living and fulfill the social, emotional, and vocational roles of their choosing. Symptoms of the illness can vary in intensity, depending on the type and/or the severity of the illness. Symptoms of bipolar disorder can be well managed through a combination of medication and therapeutic support.

With Bipolar I the person experiences periods of mania that last at least a week, as well as depressive or down periods that last at least two weeks. Bipolar II is characterized by at least one or more major depressive episodes and at least one episode of hypomania. Thus, the main difference between the two types of bipolar disorder are the severity of the mania experienced.

Prevalence of Bipolar Disorder

• An estimated 2.8% of US adults had bipolar disorder in the past year

• Prevalence is similar for males (2.9%) and females (2.9%)

• The median age for onset of Bipolar Disorder is 25 years

• An estimated 40 million people worldwide struggle with Bipolar Disorder

Impairment Among Adults

• Bipolar Disorder symptoms vary from person to person, along with the frequency and intensity of those symptoms

• An estimated 82.9% if of people had serious impairment

• 17.1% of people with Bipolar Disorder had moderate impairment

• Bipolar Disorder is the 6th leading cause of disability in the world

Suicide and Bipolar Disorder

• Bipolar Disorder results in 9.2 years reduction in expected life span

• As many as 1 in 5 people with Bipolar Disorder complete suicide.

Symptoms of Bipolar Disorder:

• Mania: sustained period of elevated mood, excitement, and euphoria manifested in mental and physical hyperactivity.

  • feeling over-confident or an exaggerated sense of well-being

  • hyper-focus on specific goals

  • increased energy levels

  • psychomotor agitation: purposeless physical movement such as pacing, tapping, gesturing

  • impulsivity and poor decision making

  • feeling jumpy or wired

  • less desire or inability to sleep

  • increased and unusual talkativeness

  • distracted or scattered thinking

• Hypomania: Milder symptoms of mania, such as elevated mood, that do not interfere with everyday life and functioning.

• Delusions: Believing things that are not true, or are not the shared reality of those around of them. People often cannot be talked out of these delusions even if there is rational evidence to the contrary.

  • Grandiose: possessing extraordinary talent, power, fame

  • Persecutory: being watched, spied on, recorded, followed, or otherwise mistreated

  • Somatic: experiencing physical sensations or bodily dysfunctions

  • Erotomaniac: believes someone is in love or otherwise romantically engaged with them, can often be someone they don’t know or someone famous

  • Jealous: believing a partner or spouse is unfaithful or betraying them

• Hallucinations: Having a perception of something that is not present or a shared reality with those around them

  • Auditory: hearing things such as voices or noises

  • Visual: seeing things such as objects, patterns, people

  • Gustatory: experiencing an altered sense of taste such as food tasting metallic or poisoned

  • Olfactory: experiencing an altered sense of smell such as smelling body odor or gasoline in the house

  • Tactile: feeling of touch or movement in body such as feeling things crawling on or touching skin

• Depression: sustained periods of feeling very sad and low.

  • low mood: feeling sad, hopeless, guilty, worthless, teary, or empty

  • not experience pleasure in activities

  • no internal motivation to initiate or complete activities

  • sleeping too much

  • reduced or loss of energy

  • difficulty concentrating or indecisiveness

  • change in appetite

  • thinking about, planning, or attempting suicide

Sanare Colorado can help people living with bipolar disorder

The psychosocial rehabilitation (PSR) model is a good fit for helping people living with bipolar disorder gain and maintain as much independence and functioning as possible. The staff at Sanare Colorado have experience working with people with bipolar disorder and can offer a range of tools to assist those folks in recovery well.

Utilizing a bio-psycho-social-spiritual approach, PSR trained clinicians co-create with their clients a unique and individualized plan for recovering with bipolar. For example, staff can help clients learn to recognize and track symptoms, learn specific skills to manage symptoms and build resilience, aid in problem solving, address self-esteem, improve social skills, develop strategies to maintain employment, and/or teach techniques to manage stress.

A diagnosis of bipolar disorder can be very overwhelming however, many people do very well in all the domains of functioning with the right support, care, and treatment. Left untreated, bipolar disorder can lead to poor outcomes such as substance use and difficulty maintaining a job.

The Sanare Colorado program in Denver is unique in that all of our services are individualized, as bipolar affects people in different ways. Sanare PSR is unique in that all of our services are offered in the community so we have an opportunity to help people with employment, social skills, life skills, and getting connected to valuable community resources.

People with bipolar disorder and their families are not alone! Family education and support is also available and with the right team there is hope that people with bipolar disorder can live a happy, connected, purposeful life.