Manic depressive disorder is no joke: it can result in death if people do not seek treatment. Often, folks may joke about being depressed or sad, but this is entirely different than if you have a true medical condition.

To suffers of manic depression, holding down a job for any amount of time can be a challenge and also have trouble maintaining friendships and sticking with things for a long time like school or hobbies.

This condition has been known to take it suffers to bad dark places. Suffers of manic depression often feel as if they are alone in the world and no one understands them, therefore when they are in dark place, they can have suicidal thoughts and exhibit self-destructive behaviours. If someone you know begins to show symptoms of manic depression, help is available and treatment can be provided. Some of the key signs that you or someone you love is suffering from manic ! depressive disorder are:

Extreme Mood Swings

Suffers of manic depressive disorder commonly experience incredibly quick mood swings. They can go from the highs of happiness and hope where everything in the world is amazing, to the lows of depression where they feel as if no one gets them and that the end of the world is nigh. These mood swings can happen in the blink of an eye.

One minute you are on top of the world the next you are languishing in a pit of despair, and suffers are often unable to explain why. Because of this suffers of manic depressive disorder have a hard time maintaining friendships: they may go from sweet loving friend to lashing out at you over little things.

So if you find that you are never sure what mood you or someone you love will be in, then this may be a sign that you may have manic depressive disorder.

Difficulty Establishing a Consistent Sleep Pattern

Another sign of manic depressive disorder is if you sleep too much or too little. There will be times when a person can not sleep and stays up for two days in a row, and there will be times when a person is listless and tired all of the time. This inability to maintain a consistent sleep pattern can then result in the loss of one’s job, and it can affect a person’s health if they are not getting the sleep they need.