Patients suffering from bipolar disorder generally experience mood swings between periods of mania (elevated happiness) and depression, with these feelings occurring independently of the patient’s current situation. During periods of depression, patients may:
- Lose interest in regular activities
- Feel tormented
- Become bored easily
- Feel fatigued
- Be pessimistic
- Some may even develop suicidal thoughts, which may lead to attempted suicide.
On the opposite end, when the patient is experiencing mania, they may:
- Have feelings of superiority / arrogance.
- Sleeping a lot less than usual, without subsequently feeling exhausted or tired.
- Speak quickly, frequently, and without pause.
- Generate thoughts at a high speed / have many trains of thought going on simultaneously.
- Lack of focus / inability to concentrate.
- Rapidly changing interests; rapidly changing the topic of conversation or what they are doing or being easily distracted.
- Partaking in numerous activities simultaneously, whether planning or physically doing, but never carrying them out to the best of their ability.
- Being unable to make well thought-out, reasoned decisions. For example, wasting money, committing dangerous or illegal acts, or being unable to control their sexual urges.
Moreover, some patients may become frustrated to the extent that they become aggressive and abuse others, either mentally, physically, or both. In the more severe cases, patients may display other psychological symptoms, such as believing they have superhuman capabilities or having either visual or auditory hallucinations.