Many people worldwide used to predict the future, knowing about others’ thinking, or even receiving messages from the paranormal world. General people gave them the tag of “Extraordinary person” or “God-gifted power”, in some countries, people used to glorify these human beings. However, according to the Britannica dictionary, a person with strange and unnatural abilities is defined as psychic.
Psychic behavior is most often noticed in people with manic depression. The medical term for Bipolar disorder is “Manic depression” which is a psychological concern that causes unusual shifts in a person’s mood, energy, activity levels, and concentration. According to WHO reports in 2019, almost 40 million people experienced bipolar disorder globally.
What is “Manic Depression” or “Bipolar disorder”?
Manic depression is a lifelong mood disorder and a mental health condition where intense shifts in mood are found. The famous Psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud classified human minds into three categories:
- Preconscious mind: Includes any thoughts which can enter into the conscious mind.
- Conscious mind: This includes every activity of humans about which they are aware; emotions, memorization abilities, sensory feelings, and thoughts behind daily life activities, and all conscious thinking are the parts of our conscious mind.
- Unconscious mind: Includes the activities of the mind when people lack consciousness like in sleep or comma. Unpleasant things like pain or anxiety can be found in the unconscious mind. Sometimes, genius ideas, cravings, or happiness also become part of the unconscious mind.
In 1893, Sigmund Freud developed the concept of the “Subconscious mind” which associates the impulse of the preconscious and unconscious mind which never came into the light of the conscious mind. Bipolar Disorder is much more related to the subconscious mind. In the severe stage of bipolar disorder, the patient’s subconscious mind becomes activated and s/he used to live two life’s parallelly.
What are the phases of Manic Depression?
Mania, Hypomania, Depression, Mixed episodes, and Rapid cycling are the major phases of manic depression or bipolar disorder.
- Mania: In this phase, patients have inflated or “high mood” episodes. S/he used to talk faster and speak about unusual things, noticed to be very happy and sometimes damn care attitude.
- Hypomania: The symptoms of mania and hypomania are quite similar but symptoms are less severe in the hypomania phase than mania.
- Depression: All symptoms of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) are noticed in this phase.
- Mixed Episodes: Psychological research in Pakistan in 2017 revealed that mixed episodes are the mixture of mania, hypomania, and the depressive phase where symptoms can coexist simultaneously or one by one in a short period.
- Rapid Cycling: In this phase, mood swings occur once or twice a year.
What is the psycho-chemistry of the brain behind manic depression?
Chemical imbalances in the brain that can cause bipolar disorder are evident in research. Neurotransmitters like noradrenaline, serotonin, and dopamine are responsible for controlling human emotions. Chemical imbalances like when noradrenaline level is too high in the brain can cause mania episodes. A scarcity of dopamine and epinephrine can cause depressive episodes in bipolar disorder.
Conclusion
Manic Depression or Bipolar disorder has become a major psychological concern worldwide. In most cases, the patient or the patient’s relatives ignore the symptoms of this mental illness. Even now, psychological illness is considered a taboo in several regions. It is high time to speak up about mental health and treat patients with manic depression or bipolar disorder appropriately.
