In many cases, mild depression can be self-treated without the use of medications. In severe depression, psychotropics may be needed. Anti-depressants help to restore the balance of neurotransmitters in the brain. A person with bipolar depression will cycle between these two phases. There are usually periods of normal moods in between.
Some people experience hypomania, which a less intense form of mania.
A person in a manic state will feel euphoric and may engage in risky, dangerous behavior. People with mania may spend hundreds or thousands of dollars on a shopping spree or gamble relentlessly. They may have delusions of grandeur-feelings of greatness or importance or invincibility. People with SAD suffer from the symptoms of depression during the winter months. People who live in northern latitudes or in cloudy, rainy climates suffer from this illness much more frequently than do people who live in warm, sunny climates.