People with bipolar disorder have two different kinds of moods called manic and hypomanic episodes. Most have had, or will have periods of depression as well. Bipolar disorder affects millions of Americans. It affects equal numbers of men and women. Most show the first signs of the illness between their teens and their fifties.
Bipolar disorder is a medical disorder.
It must be treated with medication, not just with therapy. The most common cause for a manic episode is that a person has stopped or missed taking their medication. Support groups or individual counseling can help people learn to live with the disorder. A manic episode occurs when a person has a period of drastic changes in mood. When people are in full manic episodes, their lives at home and work are severely affected.