bipolar stats

last night, while trying to sort myself out a bit, i did some research on the web. maybe i am too quick to trust the online sources i was looking at, but my personal experiences tell me that what i read was true.

i was diagnosed with bipolar ii nearly two and a half years ago, and i'm still trying to find my way around and through this disorder; i'm still trying to learn what my life looks like as someone with a form of bipolar (albeit a 'soft' version), versus simply the depression and anxiety i already knew i faced.

so reading this info last night made me wonder why anyone would consider bipolar ii to be a 'soft' bipolar compared to bipolar i.

[for clarification, bipolar i is what is normally thought of when people hear "bipolar," it's that which used to be called manic-depressive illness, it's characterized by wild highs that can become psychotic, and the depressive states that seem to come along with every mood disorder. bipolar ii, on the other hand, gets the depression, but the mania is milder and thus known as 'hypomania.' unipolar depression is a term usually used when someone has recurrent episodes of major depression. and, to keep everyone on their toes, there are other mood problems like dysthymia and cyclothymia, but i'll ignore those for now.]

so here are the fun stats i have learned lately about bipolar disorders:

• the highest rate for suicides are amongst those with bipolar disorder (followed by depression, and then other problems like schizophrenia, drug/alcohol abuse, or anxiety disorders)
• it's thought that 15-20% of those with bipolar commit suicide
• those with bipolar ii have a much higher suicide rate than those with bipolar i (and that would be explained by . . . )
• those with bipolar ii spend more time depressed than the rest of those with mood disorders. depending on which study you read, bipolar ii has a ratio of 1:37 or 1:50 when looking at hypomanic days to depressed days (and the funny thing about that is . . . )
• to truly qualify as a hypomanic episode according to dsm-iv tr standards, it must go on for at least 4 days (a manic episode is supposed to be a week long), so if those ratios are correct, then if someone had a four day hypomanic episode, they could expect to be depressed for about ~150-200 days
• though a hypomanic episode is supposed to last at least 4 days, that number is rather arbitrary. you see, rapid-cycling is the term used when people have 4 or more episodes a year. but, the thing is that a lot of people - especially those with bipolar ii - would consider 4 episodes a year to be a piece of cake, as the tendency seems to be towards ultra-rapid cycling or even ultradian (within the same day) cycling
• rapid-cycling forms of the disorder tend to be more medication resistant and therefore harder to treat (did i mention that most people with bipolar ii, and many with bipolar i, seem to have ultra-rapid cycling)
• sometimes it's hard to tell the difference between rapid-cycling and mixed episodes (a mood state that has all the bad qualities of depression mixed with the bad qualities of hypomania or mania). mixed episodes can make people mean, angry, agitated, more-suicidal, more anxious, etc. so if someone is switching mood states within the same day, they will very likely hit all three: depression, hypomania, and a mixed state
• bipolar ii tends to be characterized by deeper depressions than bipolar i, and possibly goes beyond the catagories for major depression (at the very least, the depressive episodes look a bit different than those of major depression)
• people with bipolar disorders have an average of 11 years from onset of illness until a correct diagnosis (which is a problem since if the depressive symptoms present first, that's often treated with an antidepressant which causes major problems with bipolar patients) <--hey look, i beat the average, it only took me 9 years from my first diagnosis to the dx of bipolar ii :)
• independent of suicide, those with bipolar disorder have a life expectancy 7 years shorter than the general public

looking at all the data, i feel like i really got screwed when they handed out disorders. with rapid cycling bipolar ii filled with mixed episodes, i get to spend most of my time depressed, get to hit deeper depressions than most, and seem to have a disorder that is quite treatment resistant.

i think i will soon post on the benefits of hypomania, simply to make myself see that it's not all as bad as what i just wrote.