Chaotic Mood Swings = Seasonal? - Bipolar Disorder Message Board

1337FTW · 12-01-2008, 01:38 AM

Hello,

I am 19, Male, and Bipolar. I have noticed that for most of my life whenever it get's near the end of the year (Oct, Nov, Dec) that my mood's generally get much more dynamic and fluctuate more rapidly and extreme then any other time of the year. I have been MANY medications over the year but ever since I moved out of my parents house I have stopped taking medication (About 6 months). I have done pretty well without them but lately I have lost control over my mood-swings. I will be perfectly fine and content one moment and then all of a sudden have drastic thoughts of suicide, depression, etc...

I spoke with my Girl-friend a while and gave a good example of how I perceive the whole issue:

My thoughts tend to race quite frequently similar to rush hour on the free-way. I have multiple lanes of non-stop traffic going different directions. Every now and then their will be a crash causing all the traffic to back up. These "accidents" are comparable to my random mood-shift. I can't process any of my rapid thoughts and have just blank. I have so many thoughts going through my head but I am unable to complete them and it feels like I get backed up. I actually start to get upset and irritable and eventually suicidal. It will feel like I have no reason to be here and just want to disappear but then I will do a complete 180 and feel fine again just was fast as I was to crash to begin with.

This seems to happen much more during the end of the year during these 3 months ever since I have been alive. I can't think of any reason why this occurs and don't think it's related to Christmas, Thanksgiving or anything like that. I have no idea what it is but I read on some sites that suicide rates tend to be higher around this time as well. Is this common for people that are Bipolar or perhaps people in general to experience some sort of mood transition like this during this season?

Thank you.

dreams in neon · 12-02-2008, 07:39 AM

Yes, it is common for people with bipolar to cycle between mania and depression during the autumn and winter months. Some people like myself also experience mania during the spring and summer months.

In my experience, I rapid cycle on an hourly basis between mania, depression, irritability and anger between October and March. I experience high energy levels, extreme happiness, restlesslness, racing thoughts that travel 100 mph, auditory hallucinations, delusions, paranoia, severe depression, irritability and agitation.

This time of the year is worst for me because my cycling and depression are severe.

My pdoc put me on 100mg of Lamictal along with 20mg of Zyprexa and both of these meds have worked great in controlling my mania, irritability, agitation and depression.

If I were you, I'd see a pdoc and get on meds ASAP. After all, there's no sense in suffering if you don't have to.

andfasterwefall · 12-02-2008, 05:17 PM

Everything is worse for me during the later months also, just like you've indicated. I can usually "ride" through the other months but I turn into a complete nut during fall and the beginning of winter.

katlin09 · 12-02-2008, 06:41 PM

S.A.D...Seasona Affective Disorder

I think it affects all of us BP'ers in some way or another, we all act up or down depending on what season it is.

1337FTW · 12-02-2008, 10:14 PM

Wow, thank you so much for all the feed-back. I didn't think it would be such a common issue but am glad to hear it is to some degree. I never even heard of S.A.D either. I will be sure to look into that.

Does any-one know the cause of this seasonal effect?