Manic depression is a mental disorder that is also called manic depressive disorder. To some, it is known as bipolar disorder. Manic depression symptoms are known to be on the extreme sides of the spectrum. They are either on the high end or the low end. The high-end symptoms are known to be the manic symptoms while the low end is known as the "hypo" symptoms or the depressive symptoms.

This type of mental disorder is hard to spot because the patient may appear to be going well after an episode of depression. Unknown to people around him, he becomes sunny all of the sudden not because he has overcome depression; it is just that he shifted to mania, the other symptom of his illness.

Manic Symptoms

The following are manic depression symptoms observed in patients who suffer from the manic or high end of the mental disease:

o Extreme kindness and euphoric mood.

o Being provocative.

o Inability to concentrate, always and easily distracted.

o Talking very fast due to the racing thoughts that flood the mind.

o Extreme energy level, hyper activity and restlessness.

o Excessive and uncharacteristic spending.

o Incoherence and mixed ideas.

o Increase in sexual drive.

o Intrusive behavior.

o Overly aggressive behavior.

o Very poor judgment

o Believing in his own super powers and unrealistic abilities.

o Extremely irritable.

o Sleeps too little but still have too much energy.

o Abusive use of substances such as cocaine, alcohol, and sleeping medications.

o Falling into a denial stage and not believing that anything is wrong with him.

Depressive Symptoms

The following manic depression symptoms are observed from patients on the low or depressed mode of the disorder.

o Sadness that stays for a considerable length of time accompanied by anxiousness and feeling of emptiness.

o A constant feeling of fatigue and a very low energy level.

o Feeling hopeless and always pessimistic.

o Loss of sexual drive.

o Inability to feel pleasure from anything.

o Inability to concentrate.

o A gnawing sense of guilt and feeling worthless.

o Forgetfulness.

o Restlessness.

o Extreme irritability.

o Inability to make rational decisions.

o Insomnia or oversleeping.

o A drastic loss or gain of appetite that leads to either weight loss or gain.

o Constant body pains that can not be confirmed by medical examinations.

o Suicidal tendencies.

Psychosis is another phenomenon that can be observed as a manic depression symptom. It occurs in both manic and depressive modes of the disorder. It is characterized by hallucination and delusion that is sometimes mistaken for schizophrenia (another form of mental disorder that also manifests hallucination and delusion).

It is important that proper diagnosis be done to tell whether it is manic depression symptom or schizophrenia because the two types of mental disorder need different types of psychological and medical attention.

There are people who exhibit mixed manic depressive symptoms. They manifest both the high and the low end symptoms of the disorder at the same time.

When To Seek Help

As mentioned, it is not easy to determine if a person has manic depressive disorder. If you suspect that you or a loved one is suffering from this mental illness, it would be best if you go and see a psychiatrist to fully assess your condition immediately since the person with this illness has a very erratic and unstable behavior. It can go from shoplifting to promiscuous sexual behavior to suicide. What's more, these behaviors may be manifest within a short period of time.

Proper diagnosis of the manic depressive symptoms is necessary in order to provide the proper treatment needed by the patient. The symptoms are confusing. The assistance of professional people is important in order to recover properly. Administration of medication is almost always necessary to stabilize the patient. Medications would help a patient respond well to other forms of psychiatric treatments such as psychotherapy and cognitive therapy.