Bipolar disorder is often recognized by its mania, depression, and anxiety. One aspect that is not usually discussed is its intensely obsessive compulsions.
Bipolar Disorder is when your mood changes from one extreme to another, similar to Borderline Personality Disorder. This can result in an unhealthy obsession because you will either be in love with that person or want to hurt them.
A portion of the bipolar population becomes “controlling.” This at first can show up as a talkative and outgoing, but soon suggestions and discussions become manipulative. Examples of controlling statements include: “Why would you do that?” “Does that really make sense?”
Living with bipolar disorder does not mean that a person will experience difficulty making and maintaining friendships. However, without suitable treatment and a support network, symptoms of the condition may put a strain on relationships.
Manipulation isn't a formal symptom of bipolar disorder, although some people with the condition may exhibit this behavior. In some cases, manipulative behavior is a result of living with another mental health condition, such as personality disorders, substance use disorders, or trauma.
Signs of A Bipolar Meltdown
A burst of energy. Feeling irritable. Extremely happy and euphoric mood. Speaking fast.
There's weepy, sad, and needy depression—and also irritated, unloving, and restless depression. Get rid of your negativity by treating your mood disorder. Depression can make us weepy, sad, and needy—but did you know it can also make us really irritated, unloving, and restless?
Hypersexuality can exist as a sign of bipolar disorder or on its own. Also referred to as compulsive sexual behavior or sexual addiction, hypersexuality is described as a dysfunctional preoccupation with sexual fantasies, urges, or behaviors that are difficult to control.
One of the hallmark signs of mania is impaired judgment. This causes you to participate in extremely risky or dangerous behaviors. You do things without even considering the consequences of your actions. Gambling and hypersexuality are some of the risky behaviors linked to manic episodes.
Bipolar disorder may make it more difficult for you to interpret people's emotions. Missed clues make it harder for you to empathize when others feel happy or sad. If someone is feeling troubled, you may lack enough empathy to be moved to help.
While bipolar disorder and narcissistic personality disorder are two distinct mental health diagnoses, researchers have long noted a link between the two, including symptoms of setting excessively high goals and impulsivity. Other shared traits may include a lack of empathy, sleep deficiencies, and mood changes.
It's common for someone with bipolar disorder to hurt and offend their partner. When someone is first diagnosed, there are often relationship issues that need to be addressed. Couples counseling can help you: Understand that there's an illness involved in the hurtful behavior.
While there is no way to know whether West's behavior or comments are related to his mental health, most experts agree that people with bipolar disorder can behave erratically and may at times lose their “filter” and say or do socially inappropriate things.
A bipolar person may avoid relationships because they don't feel good enough for other people. Sometimes these feelings come on quickly and cause those with mental health conditions to push away others in existing relationships. This can lead to social isolation.
Grandiosity and overconfidence. Easy tearfulness, frequent sadness. Needing little sleep to feel rested. Uncharacteristic impulsive behavior.
“When you're in a hypomanic or manic state, you're also more likely to feel you're in love,” says Haase. “You may then act on that feeling when making major long-term life decisions, not understanding your state had something to do with what you were feeling.”
Alcohol is known to intensify bipolar disorder due to its sedating effects. It acts similarly to some medications, risking feelings of depression with each swig of alcohol. Alcohol also greatly increases the severity of mania, which many who suffer from bipolar find extremely pleasurable.
Bipolar disorder may worsen with age or over time if the condition is left untreated. As time goes on, a person may experience episodes that are more severe and more frequent than when symptoms first appeared.
Binge eating, abusing drugs, smoking—there are many behaviors to deal with bipolar disorder symptoms that can lead to bad habits.