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Symptoms of bipolar

symptoms of bipolar

These are the most common symptoms of bipolar. The numbers in the brackets show how these moods rank on the Bipolar UK Mood Scale:

• suicidal thinking (0, 1)
• depression (2, 3)
• hypomania (7, 8)
• mania (9, 10)

People can go into a ‘mixed state’, too, where symptoms of depression and hypomania or mania occur at the same time.

At the extreme ends of the Mood Scale, people can also sometimes experience ‘psychosis’.

There is no typical pattern of symptoms. Some people with bipolar experience more highs, others experience more lows. A small number of people with bipolar experience ‘rapid cycling’ or ‘ultra-rapid cycling’, where their emotions change in quick succession.

Some people with bipolar can live a ‘normal’ life with a relatively stable mood for weeks, months or even years at a time. But both a manic high and depressive low mood can be incredibly destructive.

To learn more about the symptoms of bipolar watch bipolar uk webinar series, where you will hear from a number of experts and those with lived experience.

Information taken from bipolar.uk