Bipolar affective disorder

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Bipolar affective disorder is often called manic depression. It is a mood disorder, where your moods can swing from extremes: very very high (mania) to very very low (depression). The high and low phases of the illness are called â€˜episodesâ€™ and can be so extreme that they can interfere with your daily life.

The exact cause of bipolar disorder is not fully understood, but the condition seems to run in families. Both men and women can get it. People from all sorts of backgrounds can get it.

Bipolar disorder is relatively common. Around 1 person in 100 are diagnosed as having bipolar disorder. Often, the depressive phase comes first. You may be diagnosed with clinical depression to begin with, only to have a mania experience some time later (in some cases, years later) and the diagnosis might change.

There are great variations in the pattern of mood swings in bipolar disorder. For example, some people find that the mood swings happen every few days and other people might have long periods with no mood swings at all. On average, someone with bipolar disorder will have five or six episodes over a 20-year period.

Bipolar disorder can be treated effectively (see treatments section) and lots of people live normal, healthy lives while managing the condition.