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FloatingFeather
Senior Contributor

WORLD BIPOLAR DAY – 30 MARCH: ENDING THE SOCIAL STIGMA

World Bipolar Day is celebrated on 30 March every year. The date was chosen as it was the birthday of Vincent Van Gogh, who was posthumously diagnosed as probably having bipolar disorder.

One of the visions of World Bipolar Day (WBD) is to bring awareness to bipolar disorders and to eliminate social stigma. Through international collaboration, the goal of WBD is to bring the world’s population information about bipolar disorders that will educate and improve sensitivity towards the illness.

Bipolar disorder (formerly known as manic-depressive illness) is a brain disorder that causes unusual shifts in a person’s mood, energy, and ability to function. It is different from the normal ups and downs that everyone goes through, the symptoms of bipolar are severe. Untreated bipolar disorder can result in poor job or school performance, and damage relationships. The good news is bipolar disorder is very treatable, and people with this illness can lead full and productive lives.

Bipolar disorder typically develops in late adolescence or early adulthood. However, some people have their first symptoms during childhood, and some develop them late in life. It is often not recognised as an illness, and people may suffer for years before it is properly diagnosed and treated. Like diabetes or heart disease, bipolar disorder is a long-term illness that must be carefully managed throughout a person’s life.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics bipolar affects 2.9% of Australians aged 16 and over, or 568,000 people. Did you know Russell Brand, Catherine-Zeta Jones, Selena Gomez, Mariah Carey, Demi Lovato, and Mel Gibson have been diagnosed with bipolar?

Symptoms of Bipolar Disorder

Bipolar disorder causes dramatic mood swings – from overly `high’ and/or irritable to sad and hopeless, and then back again, often with periods of normal mood in between. Severe changes in energy, behaviour, and attention are characteristics. The period of highs are called manic episodes and the low periods are called depressive episodes.

A mild to moderate level of mania is called hypomania. Hypomania may feel good to the person who experiences it and may even be associated with good functioning and enhanced productivity. Thus, even when family and friends learn to recognise the mood swings as possible bipolar disorder, the person may not recognise that anything is wrong. Without proper treatment, however, hypomania can become severe mania in some people or can be followed by depression.

Severe episodes of mania or depression can include symptoms of psychosis. In periods of psychosis a person may show signs or being out of touch with reality, and may say, hear, or believe things that don’t match reality. Hallucinations including hearing, seeing, or otherwise sensing the presence of things not actually there and delusions are false, strongly held beliefs not influenced by logical reasoning or explained by a person’s usual cultural concepts. For example, delusions of grandiosity, such as believing one is the President or has special powers or wealth, may occur during mania; delusions of guilt or worthlessness, such as believing that one is ruined and broke or has committed a terrible crime, may appear during depression.

For more information and support you can contact Bipolar Australia on the link below https://www.bipolaraustralia.org.au/.

 

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2 REPLIES 2

Re: WORLD BIPOLAR DAY – 30 MARCH: ENDING THE SOCIAL STIGMA

Thank you @FloatingFeather. One post can show a lot of understanding. 

Re: WORLD BIPOLAR DAY – 30 MARCH: ENDING THE SOCIAL STIGMA

Great post @FloatingFeather ❤️

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