Bipolar disorder (bipolar disorder), is it a curse, or a gift?

For "bipolar disorder," more and more people may have heard of the term in recent years, but most people don't know what it means.

If you know that the famous writer Hemingway and the great Impressionist master Van Gogh were tortured by him, you may not be so surprised.

As a result, it also has a lesser-known name – "genius disease". Are you very confused, obviously a patient, how can you become a genius again?

In fact, bipolar disorder, like depression, is a mood disorder.

Some people say that if depression is like a black dog, then in the minds of people with bipolar disorder, there are not only black dogs, but also violent dragons.

Depression is "unipolar", i.e. the patient switches between normal and depressive states;

Bipolar disorder, on the other hand, is "bipolar," also known as "bipolar disorder," in which patients vary between two extreme states, one of which is depression and the other of which is manic.

This strange illness has plagued van Gogh, Vivien Leigh, Churchill and many other celebrities. Hemingway is the most typical bipolar, and it is said that when he was depressed, he could not write a novel in three years, while in a manic state, he could write three novels a year.

Back in 1987, Nancy C. Andreason of the University of Iowa surveyed 30 creative writers and 30 ordinary people as a contrast.

It was found that 80% of writers have experienced mental illness, particularly bipolar disorder and major depression, compared with only 30% of normal people.

For a long time, there has been a saying that "geniuses are separated by a line". Is bipolar disorder a curse or a gift that allows them to burn a light that ordinary people cannot burn?

In fact, looking at it aside from the "bipolar disorder" and the artistic achievements of celebrities, this is a cruel mental torture.

When depressed, patients have low hopelessness, self-blame anxiety, and negative and light emotions;

When it is manic, it will also manifest itself as impulsive, irritable, energetic, and conceited.

This alternating and depressive form, but also in a mixed fashion, can directly impair the patient's ability to work, study, live, and communicate.

People with bipolar disorder are prone to some interpersonal problems during the manic period, or to set unrealistic learning or work goals.

In the depressed period, the mood is low, tired, slow thinking, do not want to do anything all day, and the mobility cannot keep up.

For example, many children with bipolar disorder will not get up in the morning, do not sleep at night, indulge in games or shopping, and avoid school;

In adults, due to extreme mood swings (sometimes sudden tantrums, negative hostility towards others),

It will make others feel that their emotions are like a "roller coaster", which is very challenging to the patience of others, interpersonal and emotional relationships are very prone to problems, and there is no shortage of frequent job changes, offending colleagues and superiors, and difficulties in communication between partners.

Generally speaking, when some patients are in a depressed state, they will have a certain degree of self-awareness and will take the initiative to seek help.

In the manic stage, although you realize that you have an abnormality, you will not think that this is a disease, and you will even enjoy a state of energy, thoughts, and high efficiency, until you do something strange, such as generating a large loan relationship, etc., and come to consult after being aware of it by your family.

For example, a 35-year-old male client suddenly feels that his brain has become stupid, his thinking is slow, he has no confidence in doing anything, and he hesitates and thinks repeatedly in the face of problems.

However, within a few days, the haze was swept away, excited, high-profile, and even exaggerated.

Until a few months later, he borrowed money from his family to buy two houses as an investment. At the time, his family objected, believing that his decision was beyond his family's ability to bear.

But he kept arguing: you don't manage money, money doesn't care about you, and it was precisely because you didn't buy a house that you missed the opportunity to appreciate and make money...

The family could not stop him, suspected that he had a mental problem, took him to find help from psychological counseling, and was assessed as "bipolar disorder".

Bipolar disorder is difficult to identify, and because patients often seek help due to severe depression, they are often misdiagnosed as depression at first.

In life, we often feel that our emotions are unstable and have even affected our work and life.

For example, inexplicably sad and depressed, tired and weak, passive and sluggish, and inexplicably high interest, more irritability, and even impulsive consumption.

▼ So, how to distinguish between normal mood swings and bipolar disorder? The following symptoms should be taken seriously if:

1. Symptoms of depression and manic episodes.

For example, during a depressive episode, the patient will feel: sadness, emptiness, guilt, hopelessness; high anxiety;

Loss of interest in past hobbies; loss of energy, laziness and tiredness, easy to get bedridden; difficulty concentrating; decreased determination; deterioration of appetite; feeling inexplicable pain; suicidal thoughts;

Patients are overly happy during manic episodes; extremely irritable; energetic, often sleeping only 4 hours or less; increasing speech and running thinking; self-evaluation is overrated or exaggerated; decision-making is decreased; impulsive behavior; and do not think there is a problem with themselves.

2. Depression lasts more than two weeks and mania lasts more than a week.

3. Impaired social function, causing pain or adverse consequences to the person.

For example, it is difficult to maintain schooling, unable to continue working, etc.

4. Medical diseases must be excluded.

Certain medical conditions and medications may also trigger emotional depression or hyperactivity.

It should be added that, like other psychological distresses, biological, genetic and psychosocial factors can lead to bipolar disorder.

Psychosocial factors include adverse life events and environmental stress events, such as unemployment, lost love, poor family relationships, and long-term highly stressful living conditions.

The rollercoaster experience of a bipolar disorder can make you feel very painful, and the feeling of suddenly rising into the air and suddenly falling into the abyss is unbearable.

This is the difficulty and challenge brought by bipolarity to patients, and it also gives them more talents and opportunities.

Bipolar disorder is like a child who has been given superpowers by the care of God, and has innate advantages in art, literature or some other field that ordinary people cannot match, and their ability to learn, understand, think, and react is beyond ordinary, especially in the stage of high excitement.

Simply put, when a person has bipolar disorder, he may be a patient who is difficult to adapt to society, or he can be a leader who has a wonderful life or even achieves fame.

Among the bipolar people who have come and gone in ancient and modern times, in addition to the well-known painters and writers who have climbed an extraordinary realm in the professional field, there are also many entertainers and entrepreneurs in life who have shown outstanding talents, created great wealth, and embarked on the peak of life.

Therefore, bipolar disorder is not terrible, when we can objectively and comprehensively understand it, learn to find out and adapt to the development of their emotions,

Let the emotional fluctuations brought about by it gradually reduce the negative impact on their own body and mind, work, life, and interpersonal aspects, and make the momentum and passion that drive themselves forward more actively and effectively.

Clients who are plagued by bipolar disorder feel that life is hopeless and useless, often because everything is controlled by emotions, like a wild horse that has broken free of the reins, how can not be controlled.

Psychological counseling is a good way for you to learn to manage your emotions and become the master of your emotions.

Through professional and systematic psychological counseling work, the counselor accompanies the client to enhance his inner strength, correctly recognize, understand and accept himself, and understand that bipolar depression is both a "disease" and a "disease".

In the period of mania and high-pitchedness, fully grasp its energetic, quick thinking, creativity, efficient work and other characteristics, to achieve twice the results with half the effort;

When entering the depression period, adjust your emotions reasonably, relieve anxiety and stress, recuperate, smoothly pass through the depression stage, and prepare for the next stage of orgasm.

Whether you are a "bipolar disorder person" or a family member of a "bipolar disorder person", please give them more tolerance and kindness.

With the potential of genius, do you choose to be trapped in bipolar everywhere and make your life worse and worse, or live peacefully with bipolarity, let your life hang all the way to happiness and success?

Genius madmen are separated by a line, and this is all in our dominance.

Consultant

Tan Suyi, senior psychological counselor of Guangzhou Listening Bar Psychological Counseling Center)

Tan Suyi

· Senior counselor at the Psychological Counseling Center

· National second-level psychological counselor

· Sexual counselor