Bipolar Disorder

Ann L. is a 22 year old woman who experienced a period of deep depression. For several months, she had trouble sleeping, lost her appetite, cried all the time, lost interest in her friends and her activities. Over a period of a few days, her mood improved. She started to feel more lively and like she wanted to participate in outings with her friends again. Ann was so relieved that the dark cloud that had been hanging over her was lifted! She could not explain what had happened- she had not done anything differently that might have treated her depression. She did not spend too long thinking about what might have caused her miraculous recovery because she was too busy being happy. And she was too busy, well just being busy.

Suddenly, Ann realized that she had a lot of projects that she wanted to work on and complete. She found that she felt inspired to write and draw. In fact, one night, she stayed up all night drawing and writing poems. She was having so much fun! Ann realized that the work she was doing was first-rate, better than the artists and poets she was studying. "I will get rich selling my work!" Ann excitedly realized. Ann started spending a lot of money all the time, knowing that she would soon be rich. Her great mood led her to socialize more, unfortunately with some unsavory characters. She started having sex with strangers, something she had never done before. Her family noticed that Ann was behaving strangely. Concerned, they went to Ann and asked her what was happening in her life that seemed to be upsetting her. Uncharacteristically, Ann became furious with her family. She accused them of being out to get her. She felt that they were jealous of her beauty, money and talent. After days without sleep, even Ann became concerned that she was losing her mind. At her family's insistence, Ann went to see a psychiatrist. The psychiatrist diagnosed Ann with Bipolar Disorder.