Bipolar disorder and schizophrenia are mental health conditions that have some common traits and some key differences. Bipolar disorder causes shifts in mood, energy level, and thinking. Schizophrenia causes a person to appear to lose touch with reality.
While bipolar disorder cannot develop into schizophrenia, it's possible to experience symptoms of both. Before you consult a mental health professional, here are a few things you should know about the two conditions.
Schizophrenia treatment includes medication, therapy, social and family support, and the use of social services. Treatment must be ongoing, as this is a chronic illness without a cure. When schizophrenia is treated and managed over the long-term, most people can live normal, productive, and fulfilling lives.
With severe bipolar disorder, you may have hallucinations, where you see or hear things that aren't there. You may also have delusions, where you firmly believe in something that just isn't true. This is when it's easy to confuse bipolar disorder for schizophrenia.
Treatments for schizophrenia include antipsychotic medications, which are taken daily to prevent symptoms. Treatments for bipolar disorder include lithium and other mood stabilizers, usually along with antipsychotic medications.
Hearing voices may be a symptom of a mental illness. A doctor may diagnose you 'psychosis' or 'bipolar disorder'. But you can hear voices without having a mental health diagnosis.
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.
Bipolar disorder can cause your mood to swing from an extreme high to an extreme low. Manic symptoms can include increased energy, excitement, impulsive behaviour, and agitation. Depressive symptoms can include lack of energy, feeling worthless, low self-esteem and suicidal thoughts.
Schizophrenia tends to run in families, but no single gene is thought to be responsible. It's more likely that different combinations of genes make people more vulnerable to the condition. However, having these genes does not necessarily mean you'll develop schizophrenia.
If left untreated, schizophrenia can worsen at any age, especially if you continue to experience episodes and symptoms. Typically, early onset schizophrenia in the late teens tends to be associated more with severe symptoms than later-life onset.
Overview. Schizoaffective disorder has symptoms of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. You can experience psychosis with mania and depression. No one knows what causes schizoaffective disorder.
Schizoaffective disorder symptoms may vary from person to person. People with the condition experience psychotic symptoms, such as hallucinations or delusions, as well as symptoms of a mood disorder — either bipolar type (episodes of mania and sometimes depression) or depressive type (episodes of depression).
This was a question recently asked of me, “can people with a mental illness, like bipolar disorder, live alone?” The answer to me was obvious – yes! Absolutely. Of course a person, even with a serious mental illness, can live alone.
Signs of A Bipolar Meltdown
The extreme mood swings that occur in bipolar disorder are accompanied by changes in sleep patterns, eating habits, emotions, and behaviors. People with bipolar disorder can experience periods of mania and depression, and the timing of these episodes can be difficult to predict.
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.
If one parent has bipolar disorder, there's a 10% chance that their child will develop the illness. If both parents have bipolar disorder, the likelihood of their child developing bipolar disorder rises to 40%.
The life expectancy for someone with bipolar disorder is approximately 67 years old. A 2021 study researched the effect of bipolar disorder on longevity and found that: risk of death is 2.6 times greater than the general population. the average life span is between 8–12 years shorter than the general population.
Although symptoms may come and go, bipolar disorder usually requires lifelong treatment and does not go away on its own. Bipolar disorder can be an important factor in suicide, job loss, ability to function, and family discord. However, proper treatment can lead to better functioning and improved quality of life.
Some people are naturally talkative; we all know a motormouth or Chatty Cathy. But "pressured speech" is one of the most common symptoms of bipolar disorder.
A person with bipolar disorder is naturally uncooperative and rebellious. This disorder triggers violent behavior. Manic episodes are characterized by “crazy” behavior. Most people with this disorder are “hyper” much of the time.
Pressured speech is a common symptom of bipolar disorder and other mental health conditions. It typically occurs when a person is experiencing manic episodes. During this time, a person may feel compelled to speak quickly, erratically, and without stopping.