Though there is no cure for this disorder, medications approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration can treat symptoms and help you feel better.

Symptoms

Bipolar disorder can be present even if symptoms do not appear extreme. There is more than one type of bipolar disorder: bipolar I disorder and bipolar II disorder.

Bipolar I disorder (also known as manic-depressive illness) causes unusual shifts in mood, energy, activity levels, and the lack of ability to do everyday tasks. Symptoms include periods of depression alternating with periods of energized behavior (called “mania” or “manic episodes”).

In the second type of this disorder, called bipolar II disorder, a person with a less severe manic episode (called “hypomania”) may be productive and may not feel like anything is wrong. But this hypomania can then switch to major depressive episodes. So diagnosis is important.

Symptoms of depression include:

Feeling very sad or hopeless

Not having energy

Feeling like you can’t enjoy anything

Thinking about death or suicide

Symptoms of mania include:

An elevated or irritable mood

Increased activity and restlessness

Racing thoughts or talking fast

A decreased need for sleep

“People experiencing mania also can engage in impulsive behavior such as buying sprees and other risky behaviors,” says Mitchell Mathis, M.D., director of the Division of Psychiatry Products at the FDA. “This behavior is unusual for the person and can be dangerous.”

What to Do if You Suspect Bipolar Disorder

If you suspect you have a bipolar disorder, you should be evaluated by a mental health professional.

If you or a loved one has unstable mood symptoms, don’t ignore them. Talk with a doctor or other licensed mental health professional to get help.

“A doctor can complete a medical history, physical exam, and laboratory exam to rule out physical conditions that may cause similar symptoms. If symptoms are not caused by other illnesses, the doctor may then provide a referral to a mental health professional,” Mathis says.

Bipolar Disorder Treatments

“Today, people with bipolar disorder have more FDA-approved treatment options,” Mathis says.

Medications to treat bipolar disorder include: mood stabilizers, which help balance certain brain chemicals to prevent mania, hypomania, or depressive episodes; and antipsychotic drugs, which include relatively newer drugs called “atypical antipsychotics.”

“Atypical antipsychotics are often used as the first-line treatment in severely manic patients because they work quickly and are, in several ways, safer than the older antipsychotic drugs,” Mathis explains.

That said, medications may have side effects. For instance, side effects of mood stabilizers can include nausea, trembling, and increased thirst. And side effects of antipsychotic medications can include sleepiness, dizziness, and feeling restless.

In addition, if you take atypical antipsychotics, your doctor should regularly monitor your weight, blood sugar, and blood cholesterol, Mathis notes, because these medications can cause problems like weight gain and increased cholesterol.

Treatment for Bipolar Disorder Is Different from Treatment for Depression

With depression (also called “major depressive disorder” or “unipolar depression”), people feel low. But remember bipolar disorder includes lows and highs.

Although patients with depression can be treated with antidepressants, note that antidepressants in bipolar patients can cause manic episodes.

“If you experience manic symptoms, tell your health care provider so that you receive the correct diagnosis and medication,” Mathis says.

Considerations for Pregnant Women

The FDA ensures that approved medications are safe and effective when prescribed according to the labeling. However, the FDA has little information about pregnant women who use antipsychotic drugs because research studies for these medications generally do not include these women.

If you’re being treated for bipolar disorder and are pregnant, planning to become pregnant, or breastfeeding, work with your doctor to consider the risks and benefits of medication.

If you take medication while pregnant, you may be able to help other pregnant women and doctors find out more about the safety of that medication by joining a pregnancy registry. These registries collect data on safety issues during pregnancy. The FDA does not run registries.

The Bottom Line—and What to Do if You’re in Crisis

Everyone responds to treatment differently, so you may need to try several treatments before you find one that’s best for you. But treatment can help. If you’re ever in crisis or thinking about suicide, immediately tell someone who can help. You can call your doctor, go to a hospital emergency room, or even call the toll-free National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255). This line is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and all calls are confidential.

This article appears on the FDA’s Consumer Updates page, which features the latest on all FDA-regulated products.

The study is one of the first of rare genetic variations in people with bipolar disorder, which affects about 5.6 million Americans.

The work, published in JAMA Psychiatry, was led by Fernando Goes, M.D., assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Goes says the study demonstrates the need for DNA from a vast patient population to definitively confirm the role of rare mutations.

“One thing we learned is that it will take genetic data from at least several thousand more people with bipolar disorder to confirm that these rare mutations do in fact directly cause the disease,” Goes said. “We are working with the Bipolar Sequencing Consortium to gather more data and collaborators so we can definitively figure out causes.”

Bipolar disorder is a mental illness characterized by periods of alternating episodes of severe depression and ecstatic mania.

Goes says some early genetic studies looking into the cause of the disease used genomewide association studies to search for common, single-letter DNA changes that individually turned out to have very small effects but, in combination, can explain a small proportion of the risk for bipolar disorder. Goes’ team used newer gene sequencing technology that instead can read millions of pieces of DNA at the same time to find even rarer genetic mutations that are rare but may have a more severe effect.

Initially, Goes’ team looked at eight families with a history of bipolar disorder through several generations, likely indicating a significant inherited component. Ultimately, the investigators sequenced the whole genomes of 36 family members with the disease. Examining only the portion of the genome that acts as protein blueprints, they identified 84 rare gene variations that stood out in these family members.

To further the case that these 84 variations were connected to the disease, they compared them to versions of the same genes found in 3,541 people with bipolar disease and 4,774 controls without the disease. Although many of these genetic variations were found to be overrepresented in the bipolar cases, the researchers caution that the data weren’t powerful enough to show that any specific mutation among the 84 rare mutations directly causes bipolar disorder, noting that patient sample sizes likely in excess of 10,000 cases will be necessary to pinpoint rare mutations within a specific gene. The study did find evidence that genes from this study had previously been implicated in other psychiatric disorders, such as autism and schizophrenia, which provides additional support for the overlap of autism and schizophrenia risk genes with risk genes in families with bipolar disorder.

“Once we can confirm that these rare mutations are associated with bipolar disorder in other samples,  our plan will then be to integrate them with the more subtle, common mutations from the earlier genomic studies to better understand the cause of bipolar disorder,” Goes said.

Myth: Mental health problems don’t affect me.

Fact: According to the mentalhealth.gov experts, such problems are very common. The experts estimate that in 2011, about one in five American adults had a mental health issues. One in ten young people had suffered an episode of major depression. Five percent of the population – one in 20 Americans – lived with a serious mental illness, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or major depression

Suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in the United States, with more than 38,000 victims per year. According to mentalhealth.gov, that’s more than twice the number of lives lost to homicide. It accounts for the loss of more than 38,000 American lives each year, more than double the number of lives lost to homicide.

Myth: Children don’t experience mental health problems.

Fact: Even very young children may show early warning signs, according to the mentalhealth.gov experts. Half of all mental health disorders show first signs before a person turns 14 years old, and three quarters of mental health disorders begin before age 24.

However, the mentalhealth.gov experts say, fewer than 20% of children and adolescents with diagnosable mental health problems receive the treatment they need. Early mental health support can help a child before problems get worse.

The problems can often be diagnosed by an appropriate health-care practitioner. As in adults, these issues can be a product of a combination of biological, psychological, and social factors.

Myth: People with mental health problems are violent and unpredictable.

Fact: According to mentalhealth.gov, the vast majority of people with mental health problems are no likelier to be violent than anyone else. Only 3 to 5 percent of violent acts are committed by people living with a serious mental illness. In fact, the experts say, people with mental health issues are more than 10 times likelier to be the victim of a violence crime than those who aren’t mentally ill.

Myth: People with mental-health issues can’t take the stress of a job, even if they are managing their illness.

Fact: According to the mentalhealth.gov experts, people with mental health problems are as productive as other employees. Employers who hire people with mental health problems, the experts say, report good attendance as well as motivation, good work, and job tenure on the same or a higher level than other employees.

The mentalhealth.gov experts emphasize that when employees with mental health problems receive effective treatment, that can result in lower total medical costs; increased productivity; a lower rate of absenteeism; and lower disability costs.

Myth: Personality weakness or character flaws cause mental health problems. People with mental health problems can snap out of it if they try hard enough.

Fact: Mental health problems have nothing to do with being lazy or weak, the experts say, and many people need help to get better. The cause of mental health problems can be traced to a number of causes, including biological factors, such as genes, physical illness, injury, or brain chemistry; life  experiences, such as trauma or abuse; or a family history of mental health problems.

Myth: There is no hope for people with mental health problems. They will never get better.

Fact: Studies show that people with mental health problems get better, and many recover completely, the mentalhealth.gov experts say. Recovery refers to the process in which people are able to live, work, learn, and participate fully in their communities.

Myth: Therapy and self-help don’t do any good. Why shouldn’t you just take a pill?

Fact: Treatment for mental health problems vary from person to person and can include medication, therapy, or both

Myth: I can’t do anything for a person with a mental health problem.

Fact: Friends and loved ones can make a big difference, experts say. They can help someone get needed treatment. Some things you can do: reaching out and letting them know you are available to help, including assisting them in accessing mental-health service; learning and sharing facts about mental health, especially if you hear something that isn’t true; refusing to call people “crazy” or to define them by their condition.

Myth: It is impossible to prevent mental illnesses.

Fact: The mentalhealth.gov experts say that prevention of mental, emotional, and behavioral disorders focuses on addressing known risk factors such as exposure to trauma that can affect the chances that children, youth, and young adults will develop mental health problems.

For more information on mental health issues, visit www.mentalhealth.gov.