Depression

Bipolar 2 (bipolar two) is a mental illness which is very similar to Bipolar disorder. Basically, anyone can be at risk in developing bipolar 2 disorder, as a matter of fact around 6 million of the population of the United States is affected with this disorder. Commonly, people who get affected by bipolar 2 first discover the symptoms in their teenage years or when they are just in their early 20s. Generally,most people who acquire the bipolar 2 disorder develop it before they reach the age of 50. Of course, it is very logical that those people that have an immediate family member with a bipolar 2 disorder is more at risk to have the same mental disorder. 

 

For people to be prepared of this bipolar 2 disorder, they should be fully aware of the symptoms of this disorder. Of course during a hypomanic episode, one would evidently see the intense mood which can either be a positive or a negative feeling. During a hypomanic episode of a person with bipolar 2 disorder, the following symptoms can be observed: directly shifting from one idea to another, speaking very fast and being full of energy to the point where the person is unconsciously being deprived of sleep or rest. When a person with bipolar 2 is going through a hypomanic episode, the people around him/her are truly affected too because they can either feel the pleasantness of the person’s mood or his/her careless actions directed towards them.

 

People suffering from bipolar 2 disorder are going through a very tiring cycle in their everyday lives because after he/she experiences a hypomanic episode, the person goes through a depressive epsode, which is similar to the clinical depression which is more common to most people. Although the duration of these two episodes are not fixed because a person with bipolar 2 disorder can shift from being happy in one second then sad the next while others experience the same thing only with longer periods of normal moods.

 

When someone who has bipolar 2 is not treated immediatley, his/her episodes can become worse. Like for example in a hypomanic episode, it can torture a person who has bipolar 2 for as long as several months. In the same way, depressive episodes can also last for several months.

 

As hopeless as it may seem, a person suffering from bipolar 2 is not that hopeless because this bipolar 2 disorder is still curable for most people. These medications normally benefit more the person affected by the bipolar 2 disorder in the long term aspect of his/her mood. This is because these medications for bipolar 2 are preventive medications which can stop, as much as possible, the negative equivalent of hypomania, which is depression.

 

The most common medication for bipolar 2 is lithium which is very effective in regulating the mood swings of a person. The only drawback of using lithium for curing bipolar 2 is that it normally takes several weeks to fully affect the person with bipolar 2 disorder. In short, lithium is very good for the long term improvement of the person with bipolar 2 disorder.