[Simulated (OP)]

Um i know it is when people go happy sad happy sad and so on, but can you shed some more light on the subject for me.

[DoctorBeaver]

It's a bit more serious than just happy -> sad -> happy etc. It's more manic -> depressed -> mania.

We all experience it to a certain extent with little mood swings, but with bipolar sufferers, it is in extremis. The depressive stage can make them suicidal and they are often institutionalised for months at a time.

“Manic-depression distorts moods and thoughts, incites dreadful behaviors, destroys the basis of rational thought, and too often erodes the desire and will to live. It is an illness that is biological in its origins, yet one that feels psychological in the experience of it; an illness that is unique in conferring advantage and pleasure, yet one that brings in its wake almost unendurable suffering and, not infrequently, suicide.”

Taken from http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/bipolar-disorder/complete-publication.shtml

[Simulated (OP)]

so is this a mental problem or yeah?

[DoctorBeaver]

Yes, it is.

[Simulated (OP)]

So there is nothing I could do for a person that has it. Just me and myself and myy love?

[Carolyn]

So there is nothing I could do for a person that has it. Just me and myself and myy love?

Of course there's something you can do.  Become educated about it and be supportive....just like you would want them to be with you.

[Simulated (OP)]

but i don't think she has it? i mean she says she does but i don't think so?  its like oh alright.

[DoctorBeaver]

It can be very difficult to diagnose.

Typically, the medications prescribed are tricyclics, monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs), and lithium. Anticonvulsants are also prescribed for some patients. Which of these is administered depends on the patient and their general state of health.

[paul.fr]

Is it when an inhabitant of the artic, swings both ways?

[DoctorBeaver]

Is it when an inhabitant of the artic, swings both ways?

oh groooaaaaan

[Simulated (OP)]

Well. I really think its life. How people treat her..It brings her down..and then she starts going back up again. but odn't make it..i mean that's the way i am..

but

her dad told her she has it (what does he know) and he also said it runs in the family..

[Karen W.]

Sorry Ryan... has she gone and been treated and checked by the doctor..?? Have they monitored her...??

[DoctorBeaver]

Well. I really think its life. How people treat her..It brings her down..and then she starts going back up again. but odn't make it..i mean that's the way i am..

but

her dad told her she has it (what does he know) and he also said it runs in the family..

I believe it can be hereditary.

[Simulated (OP)]

nope, but i know its just life..life's a bitch that's all it is..

[nadal88]

It is more than just a happy. It is one of the strange statuses. Sometimes it seems to be very happy and sometimes it seems to be very sad. Now a day we can see several peoples with little symptoms...

-Nadal-
Dual Diagnosis
newbielink:http://www.dual-diagnosis.net [nonactive]

[grumpy old mare]

Here's another informative link:

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/bipolar-disorder/DS00356

How old is your girlfriend? During adolescence we all experience a bit of the VERY happy - VERY unhappy and back again and back again and back again.. sequence due to the hormonal changes, but afterwards it should stop to a certain degree.

It's not "just" the extremely depressed phase which is dangerous. The 'happy' state of serious bipolar disorder isn't just 'happy', feeling well and having a good time, it can be a feeling of being able to do anything, being the one and only strongest blabla person, irresistible - and simply being incredibly ANNOYING to everybody else. One of the affected people I know lost pretty much ALL his friends during his first, very very long episode of mania due to his very strange behaviour. And, of course, in that stage (even if it is "just" like Stephen Fry's "shop gadgets til you drop"-mania - which might make less rich people lose pretty much all possessions they have) affected people certainly won't see that there's anything wrong at all with them, as brilliant as they feel within themselves.
And the depressed state can be not "only" unbearable for the sufferer him/herself, it can be terrible and terrifying for everybody who loves that person - up to checking on the person several times a night just to make sure he/she hasn't committed suicide in the meantime!

(I am, of course, talking about a couple of people I know with very very serious bipolar disorder - as with a lot of illnesses including mental health issues, individuals are not affected exactly the same way - it can be "milder" as well as a lot more serious than with them)

if you are in any doubt re your girlfriend - why don't you have a serious chat with her dad asking why he thinks that she is bipolar, how he knows and who else in the family has it? And then see if there's anything else you could / should do?

[Simulated (OP)]

She just turned 15 today. Yeah thanks for all that info. I really think she is fine, I really do, but yeah I would talk to her dad, but her dad is just like. WOAH don't eat me. Ha.