We Get “Mean and Nasty” Because It's a Symptom! People with bipolar disorder get mean and nasty during agitated downswings or dysphoric manias because this is a symptom of bipolar disorder. It's not okay, and it doesn't mean that we get to go around yelling and abusing people.
It is defined as an extremely unstable euphoric or irritable mood along with an excess activity or energy level, excessively rapid thought and speech, reckless behavior and feeling of invincibility.
Mania in particular tends to trigger aggressive emotions and anger. The racing thoughts and high energy levels you experience can leave you feeling angry, irritable, and frustrated. Those angry emotions, in turn, can cause aggressive and inappropriate behaviors.
You may feel frustrated around a person with bipolar disorder who is having a manic episode. The high energy level can be tiring or even scary. The person may also actually enjoy the mania and may not take medicines, which can make the episode last longer. Also, the person may say and do unusual or hurtful things.
The vast majority of people with severe mental health conditions, such as bipolar disorder, are not violent. However, there's a moderate link between violence and bipolar disorder.
Mania has some overlapping signs with personality disorders, like narcissistic personality disorder or borderline personality disorder, but manipulation isn't usually chief among them.
A portion of the bipolar population becomes “controlling.” This at first can show up as a talkative and outgoing, but soon suggestions and discussions become manipulative. Examples of controlling statements include: “Why would you do that?” “Does that really make sense?”
But don't argue or debate with a person during a manic episode. Avoid intense conversation. Don't take comments or behavior personally. During periods of high energy, a person often says and does things that he or she would not usually say or do.
That is, patients with manic symptoms had lower empathy for other people's pain compared to non-manic patients due to specific processing deficits.
Violent behaviour is relatively common in bipolar disorder and usually occurs during acute manic episodes1-5. The relationship between violence and psychotic symptoms has been widely described6-14.
Symptoms of a manic episode may include a heightened sense of self-importance and grandiosity. These also feature in narcissistic disorder. Narcissism is not a symptom of bipolar disorder, and most people with bipolar disorder do not have narcissistic personality disorder.
They found that 12 risk genes for bipolar disorder were also linked to intelligence. In 75 % of these genes, bipolar disorder risk was associated with higher intelligence. In schizophrenia, there was also a genetic overlap with intelligence, but a higher proportion of the genes was associated with cognitive impairment.
Kraepelin, however, divided the “manic states” into four forms—hypomania, acute mania, delusional mania, and delirious mania—and noted that his observation revealed “the occurrence of gradual transitions between all the various states.” In a similar vein, Carlson and Goodwin, in their elegant paper of 1973, divided a ...
Manic episodes are generally not happy or pleasant times, but some people do experience elevated mood or an exaggerated sense of well-being as part of mania.
When a person is in a full-blown manic and psychotic episode, memory is greatly affected. In fact, it is rare for someone who is in a deep episode to remember all that happened. This is why it's called a blackout. The average person in this situation remembers maybe 50 percent, in my experience.
Anger and irritability are common symptoms of bipolar disorder. While anger is a normal response that many people feel at moments in their life, a person with bipolar disorder will be more vulnerable to impulsive and often irrational outbursts.
A bipolar person may avoid relationships because they don't feel good enough for other people. Sometimes these feelings come on quickly and cause those with mental health conditions to push away others in existing relationships. This can lead to social isolation.
If your loved one with bipolar disorder is suicidal or violent, don't try to handle the situation alone. If you're worried that your loved one may hurt you, get to safety and then call the police. If your loved one is suicidal, don't leave them alone. Call for an ambulance and stay with your loved one until it arrives.
Bipolar disorder may make it more difficult for you to interpret people's emotions. Missed clues make it harder for you to empathize when others feel happy or sad. If someone is feeling troubled, you may lack enough empathy to be moved to help.
It's common for someone with bipolar disorder to hurt and offend their partner. When someone is first diagnosed, there are often relationship issues that need to be addressed. Couples counseling can help you: Understand that there's an illness involved in the hurtful behavior.
What Is a Bipolar Personality Disorder? Bipolar disorder, also known as manic depressive disorder, is a type of personality disorder where mood swings can range from extreme highs to extreme lows. The two sides of bipolar disorders are called mania (extreme high) and depressive (extreme low).
People with bipolar disorder have extreme highs and lows. Along with these unpredictable mood swings may come outbursts of emotion, including crying.
The results showed that manic episodes led to decreased volume in certain areas of the brain. Bipolar disorder has been linked to various structural brain changes, including most notably progressive grey matter loss in the brain's frontal regions.