Symptoms of Manic Depressive Disorder

Manic depressive disorder is no joke: it can result in death if people do not seek treatment. Often, folks may joke about being depressed or sad, but this is entirely different than if you have a true medical condition. If you really do have manic depression, then you may not be able to hold down a job for more than a few weeks and will have a hard time maintaining friendships and sticking with things like school or even with hobbies. The condition can bring a person to a really bad place. Folks with manic depression often feel as if no one understands them, and thus, when they are in a particularly bad place, they even have suicidal thoughts and may play with self-destructive behaviors. If you can some manic depression symptoms early on, then you can help a person get the treatment they need. The following are some signs that you or someone you love is suffering from manic depressive disorder and needs help as soon as possible.

Extreme Mood Changes

If you have manic depressive disorder, then it is common for you to experience incredibly quick changes in mood. One moment you may feel full of hope and as if the world is amazing, and the next, you may feel as if no one gets you and no one will and that the world will end soon. These shifts in mood can happen at a snap of a finger. One minute you are happy and the next you are not, and you may not even be able to explain this. Someone with manic depressive disorder has a hard time keeping friends because of this condition: they may lash out from time to time and then revert back into being a sweet and loving friend. Thus, if you are not ever sure what mood you or someone you love will be in, then this is a sign that you have manic depressive disorder.

Difficulty Establishing a Consistent Sleep Pattern

Another sign of manic depressive disorder is if you sleep too much or too little. There will be times when a person can not sleep and stays up for two days in a row, and there will be times when a person is listless and tired all of the time. This inability to maintain a consistent sleep pattern can then result in the loss of one's job, and it can affect a person's health if they are not getting the sleep they need.