Pain in bipolar disorder is not limited to the psychological pain of depression or agitation. Physical pain is also a symptom of bipolar disorder, usually in the form of muscle aches and joint pain. There are also chronic pain illnesses linked to bipolar disorder like migraines, fibromyalgia and arthritis.
Although bipolar disorder does not directly affect the bones and muscles, depressive episodes can have an impact on your skeletal and muscular systems. Depression can cause unexpected aches and pains, making it difficult to carry out daily activities. Due to your discomfort, you may find it difficult to exercise.
Bipolar patient group was observed to have higher pain thresholds than unipolar depression and control group in this study.
The physical pain in bipolar disorder is known as neuropathic pain. Neuropathic pain is commonly associated with spinal cord injuries or amputation but can occur in psychiatric disorders and in other illnesses as well.
Bipolar disorder can cause your mood to swing from an extreme high to an extreme low. Manic symptoms can include increased energy, excitement, impulsive behaviour, and agitation. Depressive symptoms can include lack of energy, feeling worthless, low self-esteem and suicidal thoughts.
Bipolar disorder can be confused with other conditions, such as depression, schizophrenia, BPD, anxiety, and ADHD. Detecting and diagnosing bipolar disorder may take some time. But getting a correct, early diagnosis often results in better outcomes.
In bipolar disorder, structural brain abnormalities in the prefrontal cortex have been confirmed in postmortem studies60,61 and with structural MRI. For example, the subgenual portion of the anterior cingulate cortex was reduced in volume in patients with bipolar disorder with a family history of affective disorder.
What is somatic symptom disorder in bipolar disorder? Somatic symptoms are medically unexplained bodily sensations or basic physical dysfunctions such as appetite, digestion, or sleep dysfunction. They may be localised to a particular bodily region, or generalised, as in the case of excessive fatigue or loss of energy.
Bipolar disorder and fibromyalgia often occur alongside each other. The exact link between these conditions is currently unknown. However, researchers think that they may both have common causes or triggers. If a person has fibromyalgia, they should speak with a doctor to rule out bipolar disorder.
What are the symptoms of neuropathic pain? Many symptoms may be present in the case of neuropathic pain. These symptoms include: Spontaneous pain (pain that comes without stimulation): Shooting, burning, stabbing, or electric shock-like pain; tingling, numbness, or a “pins and needles” feeling.
Almost 24% of bipolar patients may present with chronic pain. The comorbid pain decreases quality of life. Patients with bipolar disorder and chronic pain often respond poorly to treatment and have an increased risk of suicide.
Bipolar I disorder is the most severe form of the illness. Bipolar II disorder is characterized by predominantly depressive episodes accompanied by occasional hypomanic episodes. Hypomanic episodes are milder than manic episodes but can still impair functioning.
Violence and aggression
Bipolar patients are prone to agitation that can result in impulsive aggression during manic and mixed episodes. However, depressed states can involve intense dysphoria with agitation and irritability, which can also increase the risk of violent behavior.
If one parent has bipolar disorder, there's a 10% chance that their child will develop the illness. If both parents have bipolar disorder, the likelihood of their child developing bipolar disorder rises to 40%.
The life expectancy for someone with bipolar disorder is approximately 67 years old. A 2021 study researched the effect of bipolar disorder on longevity and found that: risk of death is 2.6 times greater than the general population. the average life span is between 8–12 years shorter than the general population.
People with bipolar disorder experience intense emotional states that typically occur during distinct periods of days to weeks, called mood episodes. These mood episodes are categorized as manic/hypomanic (abnormally happy or irritable mood) or depressive (sad mood).
Studies have found that having an autoimmune disease or suffering a severe infection increases the risk of also having bipolar disorder.
In view of the high comorbidity rate between bipolar disorder and autoimmune diseases, as well as the high compatibility of the characteristics of both illnesses, some researchers have proposed that bipolar disorder is essentially an autoimmune disease.
Somatic pain can be deep or superficial, with the deeper pain coming from the skeletal structure, tendons, and muscles. It can be described as aching, cramping, gnawing, or even sharp. It usually appears in one area of the body, and movement can trigger it.
Somatic pain is characterized as well localized, intermittent, or constant and described as aching, gnawing, throbbing, or cramping. Such metastases are characterized by bone destruction with concurrent new bone formation.
Somatic symptom disorder is diagnosed when a person has a significant focus on physical symptoms, such as pain, weakness or shortness of breath, to a level that results in major distress and/or problems functioning. The individual has excessive thoughts, feelings and behaviors relating to the physical symptoms.
2019; Burdick et al. 2014). So while bipolar disorder may be associated with cognitive deficits on a group level, many individuals with it are cognitively 'well. ' Additionally, a bipolar disorder diagnosis does not consign you to a lifetime of progressive cognitive decline.
Stress. One of the most common bipolar triggers is stress. In a study published in the Journal of Affective Disorders, negative or stressful life events were associated with subsequent mood episodes.