Bipolar II Disorder in Teens and Young Adults

Bipolar disorder, also known as manic depression, is a personality illness that is often diagnosed in people between the ages of 18 and 24. This type of problem is often exacerbated by the additional issues of substance abuse and alcoholism in a person's life.

There are at least two forms of bipolar disorder. Bipolar I Disorder is symptomized by intense mood swings from emotional highs to emotional lows, known as mania and depression respectively. Mania, besides indicating excessive euphoria and aggression, is generally accompanied by delusions and hallucinations, or in other words, a form of psychosis. In Bipolar II Disorder, the person is affected by a less intense form of mania, which is called hypomania. People with hypomania exhibit similar behaviors as those who have mania, but they do not have hallucinations and delusions, and they do not have extreme lapses in judgment. Hypomania is not disabling, as mania generally is, and in fact it can even improve function for a period of time.

People with bipolar to disorder are often diagnosed as having unipolar depression or anxiety disorder, because their episodes of hypomania are not so glaringly dysfunctional and do not have any psychotic elements. The illness in such people is usually first observed when they are at one of their depressive cycles. Differentiating between unipolar depression and bipolar to depression can be difficult and challenging, even for some medical professionals and especially for people who do not have the right therapeutic background.

There is also the case of people who, on receiving and taking antidepressant medication, begin to exhibit symptoms of hypomania. Such cases are considered by some mental health professionals as cases of Bipolar III Disorder.

Victims of bipolar disorder may not recognize that they have anything wrong with them or that their illness is affecting people that are close to them. They need proper medication and treatment, even if they do not want it. If someone you know seems to exhibit signs and symptoms of bipolar disorder, do not hesitate to urge them into getting professional advice and care.

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