Bipolar Disorder Checklist - Do You Match Up?

If you think you may suffer from Bipolar Disorder, then this checklist may help you decide and give you some advice on how to deal with and get help to cure the disorder. Read on to find out more about the bipolar disorder checklist...

• Step 1. Do you have Bipolar Disorder? The main symptoms of the disorder are high and low mood swings. Suffers will fluctuate between extreme high and low states, with little or no control. When a suffer is experiencing a high they will appear to be ecstatically happy and hyperactive. The exact opposite can be seen during the low period, with sufferers seeming depressed and lethargic. People with the disorder swing wildly between the two states and find it hard to see the change in their own mood.
  


• Step 2. Diagnosis: is it depression or Bipolar Disorder? It's often difficult for doctors to diagnose Bipolar and in most cases it's misdiagnosed as depression. Try to see a psychiatrist for diagnosis, as they will often have a better understanding and experience of the disorder. There are various types of medication that can be prescribed, which help bipolar suffers lead a more settled life. If you or someone you know has been suffering from any of the symptoms from the bipolar disorder checklist for more than three weeks you should seek medical advice.
  


• Step 3. Counselling and support groups: If you're diagnosed with bipolar, make sure that you tell your close friends and family members. You will need an understanding group to help and support you through the bad times. Be sure to join a support group. This will give you a chance to meet other suffers and hear about their experiences. One 2 one counselling is also a great option and can be a great way for you to work through your problems.
  


• Step 4. Alternatives cures: After reading this bipolar disorder checklist you can start to help yourself reduce your own symptoms. Check out some on-line information and books for even more ways to help you deal with the disorder. Try to avoid triggers such as chocolate, fast food, drugs and alcohol. When you're going through the high (mania) try to avoid working long hours and reduce your stress levels. You may not feel like sleeping, but try and get 8 hours each night. If you are stressed out and running on empty, you are more likely to crash into a low depressed state.

Hopefully the Bipolar Disorder checklist has helped you gain a better understanding of the illness and what steps you should take if you recognise any of the symptoms in yourself. If you would like more information and advice on bipolar disorder checklists check out the links below.

Want to Get Rid of Sleep Paralysis? Read This Now

If you do not get rid of sleep paralysis you will suffer in the long run. These episodes leave you tired and emotionally drained and if not corrected will lead to more episodes. This condition normally occurs when a person is under tension and their stress levels are high. Stress and tension can be avoided by exercising frequently and not too close to sleep times.

Maintaining a regular sleeping pattern will also help. The idea is to get the body used to sleeping and waking up at particular times only. A random sleeping pattern will no doubt contribute to this condition because the brain is used to waking up at anytime. Sometimes even the position that you sleep in can have an effect. Some circles do not recommend sleeping on your back.

Some people believe that sleeping with lights on or having the TV or radio on helps. Yet these are the same things that will interfere with your sleep. The brain cannot ignore the stimuli produced by these things and at some point in your sleep they might trigger of a reaction. If you want to get rid of sleep paralysis a nice dark quiet room is what I recommend. Do note I said dark and not pitch black.

Other people have tried things like meditation and yoga or seeing a therapist. These alternatives do work because they focus on you having a clear mind. They try and get you in a relaxed mood. Which is what I said earlier avoid stress and get rid of tension.

If you want to get rid of sleep paralysis just try avoiding things that will interrupt your normal sleep pattern. There are some in depth, comprehensive and well looked into ideas available on this subject. Just make sure you know all there is to know.

Are You A Victim Of Sleep Panic Attacks?

In our stressful lives, it should not be surprising that a good portion of us is sleeping less soundly than previous generations. Most of the time a lack of deep sleep is related to how we function during the daytime. For the majority of humanity the whole sleep and awake cycle is voluntary that is mostly defined by the clock and hence is of no major concern, which is simply how some people are. However, there are those in whom the balance is indeed a very delicate one. When this balance is upset there is a sudden onset of inability to sleep that, in the initial stages, manifest as a lack of restfulness after waking up. This problem can reach chronic proportions quickly. Most people who seek medical attention for this problem will complain of any of the following three symptoms. Insomnia, daytime drowsiness, and irregular sleep behavior. Insomnia is more common than the other two symptoms and it is estimated that more than 25% of people are affected with different stages of insomnia. According to studies, women, elderly people, and shift workers are the ones who report more cases of insomnia than other segments of the population. Certain mental disorders like depression also cause insomnia. Sleep panic attacks are quite common among people who do not get regular sleep.

More than half of the people diagnosed with panic disorder suffer from nocturnal or sleep panic attacks. Although only 10% of all panic attacks happen at night they are still an issue of concern. Sleep panic attacks are bad because the patients begin to fear the nighttime and especially going off to sleep. They fear that during the sleep panic attack they will be comatose and hence unable to do anything if they suffer something violent. The cardiac arrest like symptoms most prevalent during sleep panic attacks make these people afraid that they might die if they have an attack while they are asleep.

Sleep panic attacks are not caused by dreams. This is known because medical studies have shown that sleep panic attacks happen during the early stages of sleep and not the REM phase when dreams usually occur. There are other disorders that are far severe than insomnia and they will often resemble sleep panic attacks in their symptoms because the victim will often wake up with palpitations, fear, shortness of breath, sweating, and so on. This type of sleep disorder occurs during the deep sleep.

Sleep apnea also causes the patients to wake up suddenly and though this sort of thing is not associated with any anxiety there is evidence indirectly linking it with sleep panic attacks since sleep apnea affects heart rate and blood pressure.

The precise reason for sleep panic attacks is not yet known. It is suspected that possible causes might include a build up of carbon dioxide in the body, a condition that is known as "false suffocation alarm" that causes the body to respond by strenuous breathing and rapid heart rate.

Sleep panic attacks are influenced by the events of daytime, alcohol, drugs, depression, and stress.

Hypoglycemia Insomnia - Sleep Problems Due to Hypoglycemia

One of the most frustrating symptoms of hypoglycemia is insomnia. Already severe strained and fatigues due to hypoglycemia, insomnia can literally push you into total breakdown. The constant pain, fatigue and sleep deprivation will wear anyone down physically and mentally.

Insomnia is the inability to fall asleep or to remain asleep throughout the night. This inability to fall asleep can be caused by stress, anxiety about sleeping or stimulants such as coffee and tea. If you are a sufferer of hypoglycemia, then it is very likely that the cause of your insomnia is due to low blood sugar. When your blood sugar drops below a certain level, your brain will become stimulated and you will be woken up - prompting you to get something to eat. This is part of the body's defense mechanism.

If your insomnia is caused by hypoglycemia, the use of sleeping pills or other remedies can never help you to overcome insomnia because the root cause of the problem is not addressed - low blood sugar. Thus, in order to overcome your hypoglycemia induced insomnia, you will need to find way to maintain your blood sugar throughout the night.

One of the best ways to go about doing this is to have a light snack 1-2 hours before bed time. The choice of the snack should high in complex carbohydrates because they increase serotonin, a brain neurotransmitter that promotes sleep. In addition, complex carbohydrates are harder to break down into glucose and thus, they are absorbed slowly but constantly into the bloodstream. This property is what you are looking for to keep your sugar level constant throughout the night.

A few example of good bed time snacks are: bread (whole-grain), oatmeal, salads, etc.

Stimulants such as coffee, tea and alcohol should be avoided as they keep you mentally alert. Food high in sugar contents should also be avoided as they can raise your blood sugar level very quickly, prompting your pancreas to produce large amounts of insulin which will subsequently send you into hypoglycemic mode.

EFT Tapping and Insomnia - How to Use Tapping to Help You Fall Asleep More Easily

Tossing and turning all night? Read on to discover how EFT, i.e., Emotional Freedom Technique, can help you sleep better.

If you have trouble sleeping, you'll easily get caught up in a vicious cycle. You feel awful during the day because you can't sleep, and every night, you are afraid you won't be able to sleep AGAIN, which will make it even harder to fall asleep.

So what can you do to break through that cycle?

1) Use EFT for Insomnia

How about tapping, also known as EFT or Emotional Freedom Technique.

You see, one of the biggest reasons for sleeping problems and insomnia is stress. So the more stressed you are, the more badly you need sleep to recover, and yet sleep also gets more and more elusive.

And in order to sleep, you need to give stress a break.

So tapping to help you fall asleep might help, at least a little. And here's how you do it:

Use the following as a set-up phrase:

Even though I have trouble sleeping, I choose to feel calm and relaxed.

Even through I'm afraid I won't fall asleep AGAIN, I choose to feel calm and confident.

Even though I'm worried about how I feel tomorrow morning, I choose to let my body sleep if it wants to.

And then, you tap on the various points (eyebrow point, side of eye, under eye, under nose, chin, collar bone, under arm, and top of head), repeating the negative phrases for a round or two, and then the positive phrases for another round -- or two.

2) Use EFT to Relieve Stress

However, if you're truly stressed, this will only get you so far. You also need to address the stress, and preferably do that first.

You can start generic, by tapping on "Even though I feel stressed..." but you should go deeper and tap on more specific issues.

Tap on what you're stressed about. Tap on what you're afraid will happen.

3) Other Helpful Tools

And even though tapping is generally amazingly effective, don't forget to do a few other helpful things as well.

For example, why not keep a journal next to your bed and write down the things that worry you so you can let them go, knowing they'll be there for you to pick up the next morning, if you should choose to get back to them.

Or write a gratitude list each night before you go to sleep. Reflect on a few things you're grateful for, no matter how small they might seem. And for best effects, do the same thing in the morning, to get the day off to a good start.

Also remember to make it easy for yourself to fall asleep. Make sure you're comfortable and that your room is dark and quiet. And why not scent your pillow with a little lavender or play some soothing music. If you then add tapping, you might wonder what happened to your insomnia.

Early Onset Bipolar Disorder - Does Your Child Suffer From Bipolar Disorder?

Early onset bipolar disorder occurs before the age of 21. While most people develop bipolar disorder as they enter puberty, the average time to diagnosis is ten years and will take three different doctors, on average.

How do you know if your child is suffering from early onset bipolar disorder? Here are the symptoms.

Changes in Mood

Severe changes in mood, such as huge swings between being happy, called mania, and sad, called depression.

High Risk Behavior

A common symptom of early onset bipolar disorder involves bad behavior, such as promiscuity, or using drugs and alcohol. Typically, teens with manic depression will act out, and be particularly difficult and rebellious.

Distractibility

Concentration will be difficult for a teen with bipolar disorder. They will have difficulty focusing in class, and may be reprimanded for bad behavior. Usually, teens with bipolar will suffer from poor marks in school, and may be wrongly diagnosed as having attention deficit disorder.

Thoughts of Suicide

A teen with early onset bipolar disorder will have dark thoughts, contemplating their own death, and either planning to or attempting to commit suicide. Sadly, suicide is a leading cause of death on teens, so it is important to know the health of your child.

Oversleeping or Overeating

A child with manic depression will have a difficult time getting up for school, and will have erratic sleep patterns. Obesity is common in those with the disorder, as food can be used in an attempt to self medicate the disorder. Alternatively, anorexia is less common, however, negative body image frequently occurs in those with the disease.

Hormone Imbalances And Depression

Serotonin depression is a mood disorder due to the imbalance in the hormone, serotonin. The symptoms can affect bipolar, anxiety and depressive eating disorders.

Serotonin is what is called a monoamine transporter. It carries important messages along the neural pathway in the brain. It's a bit like the postman who will use the pathways in the brain to carry the letter you posted.

In Serotonin depression it's as if the letter writer ran out of paper to write on or didn't mail it properly and the receptors pick it up too quickly and it gets scrambled up somehow. This causes an imbalance of mood, energy or understanding and can lead to depression. It has also been discovered that the release of serotonin is somehow tied in with the sleep cycle and the body's natural circadian rhythms.

There are two major types of serotonin depression. It can be due to a genetic defect in the brain's serotonin receptors (mailboxes), called 5HTT receptor sites. These are too short making them too quick to absorb the serotonin and then to release it back into the neural pathway properly causing a shortage.

Many antidepressant medications are designed to block these receptor sites (5HTT) from absorbing serotonin too quickly. That is why they are called Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRI's) and are used for depression but recent tests are now questioning whether they are as effective as it was first believed. They have also found that it has an impact on the teenage suicide rate.

SSRI's may not be effective in many cases because of the brain's inability to produce enough serotonin to begin with. If levels of serotonin are too low the SSRI's won't work. This is the second type of serotonin depression - the brain's inability to produce enough serotonin. The problem is that one cannot just take a serotonin supplement. The brain's defence mechanism called the brain barrier protects it from outside chemicals which are why the supplements don't work well.

Sometimes the brain can temporarily get the extra serotonin it needs from carbohydrates in sugars and starches as these cause the pancreas to release insulin to break down sugars. This insulin gets the brain barrier to open and absorb the serotonin compounds giving the person a 'high' for a while until they run out of serotonin again. Then they crave more carbohydrates, put on weight and create a cycle which is why this is not a good way to get serotonin into the body.

Research shows that the body needs different hormones at different times of day such as melatonin to help us sleep and serotonin during the day. The control centre that regulates these hormones is called the Suprachaismatic Nucleus, or body clock, and is in a part called the hypothalamus in the back of the brain. This body clock uses light as a signal to know when to produce the right hormones and uses darkness to produce night time hormones. As people age or suffer from stress it can malfunction causing many a sleepless night. Light produces serotonin and light therapy has been found to help with mood disorders especially in winter with Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD).

In terms of natural supplements studies show St. John's Wort (Hypericum) can sometimes be as effective as Prozac in treating depression because it affects all three neurotransmitters (serotonin, norepinephrine and dopamine). There is no other pharmacological medication that does this and it works by causing these neurotransmitters to stay in the synaptic system longer and stopping absorption too quickly. These neurotransmitters are the messengers, carrying the brain's commands to where they need to go. Since they stay in the system longer, the brain's cells communicate better with each other and this is why many depressed people respond so well to St. John's Wort. It is important though that if you are on medication you tell your doctor you want to start taking St John's Wort as it accelerates the liver's ability to break down and can inter-act with other medications.

A vitamin B deficiency is also usually in play when one is depressed due to low folic acid levels. That is how depression usually starts. Medications also work better if folic acid is taken. Vitamin B also helps with mood swings associated with low self esteem, menopause and PMT. It is important to buy the highest B complex that you can find.

Fish oils such as Omega-3 Fatty Acids (DHA and EPA) are also anti-depressants and studies show they can help in stabilising bipolar depression. These may work by nourishing the nerve cells in the brain which are mostly made of DHE fatty acids. Depressed people have low DHE levels so the fish oil will raise these as well as lowering the risk of heart attacks, strokes and help build better bones. It is important to take vitamin C and E and other natural anti oxidants with these as they can produce free radicals if you take too much of them. Goji Juice is one of the best antioxidants. Also fish oils can sometimes interfere with anti-clotting medications.

DHEA is also a natural anti depressant which helps with moods but it may also affect hormone levels as DHEA is produced by the adrenal glands and converted into oestrogen, testosterone and other hormones in the body. Too much may cause oily skin, some facial hair which is rare and a lowering of the voice. Chromium Picolinate is helpful in cases of dysthymia and selenium helps with concentration and energy whilst Zinc can also lift one's mood.

The old remedy of L-Tryptophan, 5-HTP used in the past does not work that well though. Although L-Tryptophan is the basic building block of serotonin and 5-HTP is a synthesized intermediate compound close to serotonin and the combining of these doesn't necessarily produce more serotonin.

Serotonin is a difficult substance to produce artificially and therefore it makes serotonin depression a difficult disorder to treat.