Manic depressive disorder is different compared to depression in the fact that patients not only have episodes where they feel depressed, but also episodes where they will feel extremely well. These mood changes are what is typical for bipolar disorder, when a patient is depressed he will feel sad and he has very little energy to undertake any activity. Most of the time patients will stay at home in their bed where it is safe and comfortable, they don’t feel like doing any social activities because than they will meet other people and this will even make them more unsecured. But when the mood changes to mania or hypomania than a person will make a huge change about how he feels and how he acts. Now he believes he can achieve anything and their are no boundaries that can stop them. In practice this means that those patients with manic episodes will spend a lot of money, do dangerous activities and even flirt or fight with other people.
There is no medication or treatment option that will cure manic depressive disorder but medication does play a very important role in the treatment process. Lithium, a mood stabilizer is the main treatment and it helps the patient to keep control over their mood changes. In combination with cognitive therapy it can be a very effective treatment that will help them live quite a normal live.
But the problem is that many patients stop taking their medication when they are hanging against a manic episode. They will start feeling really well again and why should you take medication when you feel so incredibly good about yourself? That is why many patients with manic depressive disorder will be under close control of their doctor or psychologist. Not only will he give more insight on what the disorder does and how to adapt to it, he will also help the patient recognize when a new episode is close by.