DQ Restless hyperverbal obnoxious and angry
DQ Restless hyperverbal obnoxious and angry
hen it comes to mental illness, there are plenty of stereotypes. But in reality, mood disorders can be hard to pinpoint – particularly in people with bipolar disorder symptoms. “Chalking it up to moodiness or trouble at work or tiredness is pretty common,” says Dr. Carrie Bearden, an associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences and psychology at the David Geffen School of Medical at UCLA. “The disorder varies in severity.”
From our friends at Health.com, here are 10 signs that mood problems may be due to more than a quirky or difficult personality.
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When they are in a manic phase, people with bipolar disorder can have an inflated self-esteem. “They feel grandiose and don’t consider consequences; everything sounds good to them,” Dr. Malone says.
Two of the most common types of behavior that can result from this are spending sprees and unusual sexual behavior. “I have had a number of patients who have had affairs who never would have done that if they weren’t in a manic episode…during this episode they exhibited behavior that is not consistent with what they would do normally,” he says.
Bipolar disorder is characterized by up-and-down episodes of mania and depression. During a manic phase, some patients can have a total break from reality. But hypomania, which is also a symptom of the disorder, is a high-energy state in which a person feels exuberant but hasn’t lost his or her grip on reality.
“Hypomania can be a pretty enjoyable state, really,” Dr. Bearden says. A person’s mood can be elevated, they may have a lot of energy and creativity, and they may experience euphoria. This is the “up” side of bipolar disorder that some people with the condition actually enjoy – while it lasts.
Some people are naturally talkative; we all know a motormouth or Chatty Cathy. But “pressured speech” is one of the most common symptoms of bipolar disorder. This kind of speech occurs when someone is really not in a two-way conversation, Dr. Bearden says. The person will talk rapidly and if you try to speak, they will likely just talk over you. They will also sometimes jump around to different topics.
“What’s kind of a red flag is when it is atypical for the person to talk like this,” doing it only when they are in a manic cycle but not at other times, she says.
