{"id":5598,"date":"2007-04-22T06:46:00","date_gmt":"2007-04-22T10:46:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bipolarsupporter.com\/bipolarsupporterblog\/whats-a-bipolar-episode-major-warning\/"},"modified":"2007-04-22T06:46:00","modified_gmt":"2007-04-22T10:46:00","slug":"whats-a-bipolar-episode-major-warning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.bipolarsupporter.com\/bipolarsupporterblog\/whats-a-bipolar-episode-major-warning\/","title":{"rendered":"What&#8217;s a bipolar episode? Major warning"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Hi,<\/p>\n<p>Before I head out the door for the day, I wanted<br \/>to tell you something. I have a major warning as well.<br \/>Read on.<\/p>\n<p>First I just was talking to Michele Soloway<br \/>who writes for me and has bipolar disorder and<br \/>a few other illnesses. She is high functioning<br \/>and does VERY, VERY well.<\/p>\n<p>Anyway, we were talking about how we really<br \/>need to make sure that we always keep going over<br \/>the basics of bipolar disorder. That got me<br \/>to thinking about something. I have gotten<br \/>a ton of emails about people asking, what&#8217;s<br \/>an episode.<\/p>\n<p>At first I was thinking that everyone should<br \/>know that but I never knew what an episode was<br \/>after being around my mom for 29 years. We use<br \/>to call it &#8220;mom&#8217;s sick.&#8221; So, let&#8217;s talk about<br \/>what an episode is.<\/p>\n<p>What is a bipolar episode?<\/p>\n<p>Bipolar Disorder is marked by extreme mood swings. <br \/>There are times when a person with Bipolar Disorder<br \/>enters a depressive mood (extreme sadness), and<br \/>other times when they experience mania (extreme euphoria).<\/p>\n<p>These are called bipolar episodes.  Contrary to what some<br \/>people believe, a person with the disorder does not<br \/>continually go back and forth between these two<br \/>extremes. In between episodes, the person can go<br \/>months (or even years) with normal moods. <\/p>\n<p>My mom&#8217;s episodes tend to be manic BUT for many<br \/>years when I was a kid she was depressed. I remember<br \/>my mom being in the bed for YEARS. I think from like<br \/>age 10 through maybe 13, my mom was always in the<br \/>bed in a dark house.<\/p>\n<p>It made it strange for me because I thought that was<br \/>normal until one day a friend said, &#8220;where&#8217;s your mom?&#8221;<br \/>I explained she was always in bed and he said that<br \/>wasn&#8217;t normal. It was at that point I knew something<br \/>was wrong because all my other friends had mom&#8217;s that<br \/>weren&#8217;t in bed all day.<\/p>\n<p>Anyway, next question&#8230;..<\/p>\n<p>What Happens During an Episode?<\/p>\n<p>Manic Episodes:  Symptoms build up over time<br \/>with initial symptoms being mild. It generally<br \/>starts off slowly but starts getting worse.<\/p>\n<p>When the episode ends, the person will either<br \/>enter a depressive episode or will return to their<br \/>normal mood.  The main symptom of a manic episode<br \/>is seriously impaired judgment.  Symptoms include:<br \/>less sleep, rapid speech, overspending, and risky<br \/>behavior involving sex, gambling, eating, drugs,<br \/>and\/or alcohol.<\/p>\n<p>In my mom&#8217;s manic episodes, she spent a TON and I mean<br \/>a TON of money. I have never calculated the total loss<br \/>but it&#8217;s way more than $500,000 that&#8217;s for sure. <\/p>\n<p>Depressive Episodes:  Many times, the person might<br \/>enter a depressive episode immediately after coming<br \/>out of a manic episode. Other times, they might go from<br \/>a normal mood to a depressive episode. Depressive<br \/>episodes are usually marked by feelings of hopelessness<br \/>\u2013 sometimes even thoughts of death or suicide.  CALL<br \/>911 or the doctor if your loved one is suicidal.<br \/>TAKE IT SERIOUSLY.<\/p>\n<p>Symptoms also include withdrawal from family and friends and not participating in activities that the person used to enjoy.<\/p>\n<p>Mixed Episodes:  In some cases, the person might<br \/>actually have episodes that include symptoms of both<br \/>mania and depression. These can be more difficult to<br \/>deal with because they are having some of the manic<br \/>feelings and some of the depressive feelings in the<br \/>same episode.<\/p>\n<p>                 WARNING!!!!<\/p>\n<p>HERE&#8217;S THE BIGGEST SECRET I HAVE LEARNED. This is<br \/>one worth a ton to you.<\/p>\n<p>You have to develop a system to PREVENT episodes<br \/>and you have to develop a system of what to do<br \/>if\/when an episode occurs.<\/p>\n<p>You can&#8217;t say &#8220;let&#8217;s just hope one doesn&#8217;t occur.&#8221;<br \/>You can&#8217;t just leave it all in the hands of a doctor.<br \/>EVERYONE needs to be involved and on the same page<br \/>with the same plan.<\/p>\n<p>This is what our family NEVER did. As a result<br \/>it created DECADES of problems.<\/p>\n<p>Most people simply don&#8217;t plan and prepare, this is<br \/>both the supporter and person with the disorder.<br \/>For some reason, NOT planning is what people do<br \/>when they should be planning and preparing.<\/p>\n<p>My mom started to go into an episode in the last<br \/>two months. It got rather bad. In the old days,<br \/>her episode would have lasted probably a year<br \/>and have done serious financial and emotional<br \/>damage to everyone around her.<\/p>\n<p>BUT with proper planning we caught the episode,<br \/>and damage was minimal now she is back on<br \/>track. Without a system people are DOOMED.<\/p>\n<p>Take a look at what I have, but I am not<br \/>pushing my material on you. You can do what<br \/>I did, go interview doctors, read all the books,<br \/>go to many conferences, meetings, workshops,<br \/>talk to therapists, meeting people with bipolar<br \/>disorder who are high functioning and make your<br \/>own system. One person told me on my list she did<br \/>just that because she had plenty of time.<\/p>\n<p>Just do something right away.<\/p>\n<p>SUPPORTING AN ADULT?<br \/>Visit:<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/www.bipolarsupporter.com\/report11\">http:\/\/www.bipolarsupporter.com\/report11<\/a><\/p>\n<p>SUPPORTING A CHILD\/TEEN?<br \/>Visit:<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/www.bipolarparenting.com\/\">http:\/\/www.bipolarparenting.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p>HAVE BIPOLAR DISORDER?<br \/>Visit:<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/www.survivebipolar.net\/\">http:\/\/www.survivebipolar.net<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Your Friend,<\/p>\n<p>Dave<\/p>\n<p>P.S. Check out my F.ree blog with copies of emails<br \/>that I have sent in the past and lots of great<br \/>information for you:<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/www.bipolarcentral.com\/supporterblog\/\">http:\/\/www.bipolarcentral.com\/supporterblog\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p>P.P.S Check out my F.ree podcast. Hear me give<br \/>mini seminars designed to teach you information<br \/>you can&#8217;t learn anywhere else.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/bipolarcentral.libsyn.com\/\">http:\/\/bipolarcentral.libsyn.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Hi,<\/p>\n<p>Before I head out the door for the day, I wanted<br \/>to tell you something. I have a major warning as well.<br \/>Read on.<\/p>\n<p>First I just was talking to Michele Soloway<br \/>who writes for me and has bipolar disorder and<br \/>a few other illnesses. She is high functioning<br \/>and does VERY, VERY well.<\/p>\n<p>Anyway, we were talking about how we really<br \/>need to make sure that we always keep going over<br \/>the basics of bipolar disorder.<\/p>\n<p> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bipolarsupporter.com\/bipolarsupporterblog\/whats-a-bipolar-episode-major-warning\/\" class=\"more-link pull-right\" rel=\"bookmark\">Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>What&#039;s a bipolar episode? Major warning - Bipolar Supporter Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/www.bipolarsupporter.com\/bipolarsupporterblog\/whats-a-bipolar-episode-major-warning\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What&#039;s a bipolar episode? Major warning - Bipolar Supporter Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Hi, Before I head out the door for the day, I wantedto tell you something. I have a major warning as well.Read on. First I just was talking to Michele Solowaywho writes for me and has bipolar disorder anda few other illnesses. She is high functioningand does VERY, VERY well. Anyway, we were talking about how we reallyneed to make sure that we always keep going overthe basics of bipolar disorder. 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Share with someone who has bipolar disorder today.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.bipolarsupporter.com\/bipolarsupporterblog\/#\/schema\/person\/bdb1948c35c678d8a189cbe999dcad75\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"http:\/\/www.bipolarsupporter.com\/bipolarsupporterblog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":[\"Person\",\"Organization\"],\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.bipolarsupporter.com\/bipolarsupporterblog\/#\/schema\/person\/bdb1948c35c678d8a189cbe999dcad75\",\"name\":\"David Oliver\",\"logo\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.bipolarsupporter.com\/bipolarsupporterblog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.bipolarcentral.com\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"What's a bipolar episode? 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