Manic Depression Symptoms

One good thing about manic depression symptoms - other people can usually spot 'em a mile away. (Of course, that's also one of the bad things about manic depression symptoms!)

The Manic Depression Symptoms

To be diagnosed with manic depression (now called bipolar disorder) a person would be expected to have at least three of the following symptoms:

In the vast uncharted territories of the mind and mental disorders, the field of psychiatry has volunteered to grope around in the dark and tell us what's up. Perhaps their best efforts to date are reflected in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM).

The DSM (now the DSM-IV) evolved as a collaborative effort of literally hundreds of doctors and researchers...

to attempt some degree of uniformity and consistency of diagnosis across the profession.

"The essential feature of Bipolar I Disorder is a clinical course that is characterized by the occurrence of one or more Manic Episodes or Mixed Episodes" (p. 382),

Variants of Bipolar I Disorder are further distinguished by their recent history:

Single Manic Episode
Most Recent Episode Hypomanic
Most Recent Episode Manic
Most Recent Episode Mixed
Most Recent Episode Depressed
Most Recent Episode Unspecified

"The essential feature of Bipolar II Disorder is a clinical course that is characterized by the occurrence of one or more Major Depressive Episodes accompanied by at least one Hypomanic Episode" (p. 392).

Working with Manic Depression Symptoms

The classic tool for working with manic depression symptoms, lithium has been a lifesaver for many who suffer from manic depression. Often times, lithium is combined with various antidepressants such as paxil or zoloft.

Zyprexa, an antipsychotic medicine, is approved by the FDA for schizophrenia, acute mixed or manic episodes of bipolar disorder, and maintenance treatment in bipolar disorder.

Zyprexa can cause extremely unpleasant side effects such as diabetes, severe anxiety, tardive dyskenisia, (where your muscles spasm uncontrollably - sometimes irreversibly) and excessive weight gain. Another common side effect is a complete loss of libido.

Various other antipsychotic medicines are also used for bipolar, such as abilify, risperdal, seroquel, and geodon. (Geodon should be used as a LAST RESORT ONLY.)

Symbyax is classified as an antidepressant, but it's actually a combination of prozac and zyprexa. It's the first drug FDA approved for bipolar disorder. With all the side effects you've come to expect in a medication of this nature: most notably fatigue, weight gain, and loss of libido.

As an alternative to prescription antidepressants, 5-Hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP) has been shown in scientific studies to be just as effective without the numerous side effects of depression medications. 5-HTP can be safely combined with lithium to reduce manic depression symptoms.

One of the ways lithium relieves manic depression symptoms is by promoting increased brain levels of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine. Phosphatidycholine performs the same function, and has been shown to produce significant improvement in some patients.

Not everyone responds well to phosphatidycholine; it causes depression in some people who take it. Still, it may be a viable alternative for those who don't respond well to lithium.

Hair samples of manic patients contain elevated levels of the heavy metal vanadium. Upon recovery, the vanadium levels fall into the normal range.

By comparison, depressed people have normal vanadium levels in hair samples, while their blood levels of vanadium are elevated. Their levels also return to normal upon recovery.

Vanadium appears to play a major role in determining mood. The following double-blind crossover study -

...produced significant clinical improvement in manic depression symptoms by reducing vanadium levels. Their secret? vitamin C! 3 to 5 grams of vitamin C, divided into several doses taken three times per day.

Vitamin C alters the chemical structure of vanadate to the less harmful vanadyl. Considering the cost and availability of vitamin C, you'd have to be crazy not to try this option! (That's a joke. It's okay to laugh.)

The highest levels of vanadium are found in processed foods, so eating as much unprocessed foods as possible may also provide relief from manic depression symptoms. Fresh fruits and vegetables should be a major part of your diet if you suffer from any of the manic depression symptoms.

I've had bipolar since I was a teenager. And I've done a lot of crazy things I'm still not willing to talk about.

Now, however, I barely even notice it. Bipolar gives me almost no trouble at all.

I almost feel guilty because my life has become so enjoyable and so easy. Especially since I remember how miserable I used to be.

Basically it comes down to making one slight shift in what you do everyday, and you can watch in amazement as your life slowly begins to start working out in almost every way.

It's such an important change that I've written a complete e-book about it. And I'd like to give you a copy for free. All you have to do is write your first name and primary email address into the space below, and you'll be receiving a link to download the e-book right away.

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