Depressive and Bipolar Disorders: Crash Course Psychology #30

Not sleeping for days on end. Long periods of euphoria. Racing thoughts. Grandiose ideas. Mania. Depression. All of these are symptoms of Bipolar Disorder. In this episode of Crash Course Psychology, Hank talks about mood disorders and their causes as well as how these disorders can impact people's lives.


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Chapters:
Introduction: Bipolar Disorder 00:00
Mood Disorders 1:15
What are Moods? 2:00
Depressive Disorders 2:50
Bipolar Disorder 4:31
Genetic Causes of Mood Disorders 5:48
Environmental Triggers of Mood Disorders 6:14
Mood Disorders & Gender 6:45
Mood Disorders & the Brain 7:05
Social-Cognitive Perspective on Mood Disorders 7:58
Review & Credits 9:13
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[secretlysanesparrow]

“Depression is like being colorblind while everyone tries to tell you just how colorful the world is.”

This has been posted a lot but I decided to post it again.

[irradiatedPirateBooty]

In school, they should REALLY talk about depression, because I'm so tired of the people who say "get over it, " "you're lazy, selfish, etc."

[ceilingeye]

ALSO:

Two major symptoms not discussed often are 1: extreme levels of guilt, usually for small mistakes 2: the paranoia that you are generally hated or disliked, and for good reason.


I remember once telling myself that I deserved death because i forgot to add my name on an assignment.

[cammy]

For some reason "You CAN live well" made me cry.

[averyltaylor]

Depression isn't just being sad. Depression is feeling numb a lot, or angry with yourself. Depression is zoning out over and over because you can't focus. Depression is laughing and not actually feeling happy. You can think you're fine for a while. You feel okay and nothing is going wrong. And then BOOM. You're in algebra class and you see everyone laughing and you have no idea how to react. You can't react. You're frozen by a crippling and overwhelming sense of helplessness. From someone suffering from depression, please don't throw the word around like its something that you can easily get over. Please.

[lilkiwi]

anyone else with depression just "blank out" as in they don't feel any emotions at all for days ? is this a symptom of depression or something else?

[LifeAsAnonymous]

I have Bipolar II Disorder and the weirdest thing I ever did was form a one man rock band and perform in front of like 1200 people... I can't sing or play any instruments. XD

[stevecash]

Dang. I've had bipolar ups and downs as well as generalized anxiety my whole life. No matter how hard you try to map the upcoming changes, you'll never be ready.

[cpob]

The hardest part of living with this stuff is that everyone treats you like a timebomb. You cant be trusted to do anything, even after treatment. Im totally fine now but, like I just got fired (part time, minimum wage) a couple weeks ago and yeah it sucked, but no one wanted to leave me alone and kept hiding knives and belts and kept checking on me. If you break your leg, it heals and you move on with your life and no one thinks you cant walk or carry things. Its not the same when you have depression or other mental issues. I read a column that the military is being criticized for letting in people with a history of mental health issues. These people weren't causing any problems, but everyone thinks they are a train wreck waiting to happen, even if the issues are delt with.

[MrFwufyClipsHD]

Sadly I'm seeing a theme of parents not believing their kids that they might be suffering from mental disorders, it actually makes me so angry when people say "it's just a phase" or "get over it" because even if it IS just a phase (and it rarely is) that's not how you deal with it, you talk to a professional who knows more than a parent who's watched a documentary on mental health and suddenly thinks that they are fully qualified to diagnose their kids. If you think that you might be suffering from depression, bi-polar, anxiety, eating disorders or anything like that, and your parents won't listen, then try asking someone you trust to take you to a professional and talk to them about it, either way you'll be better off.

[BeenaGena]

Sad how i was diagnosed by three doctors, three times, with bipolar depression, depression and general and anxiety. And I'm not getting the help I need bc my parents don't believe i have it, or that it's important. Even though I had to deal with these disorders for 4yrs.

[saturniidz]

As someone suffering from Depression, it's _terrible_. Days of being robotic and not remembering things. Posing with a fake smile, saying you're fine.

It's like you're a whole other person outside of your thoughts.

Sleep? Ha. Good luck with that. In my case, it was spent crying and writing "you're not good enough" over and over.

[gracevaughn]

I have been depressed for a long time and nothing makes me feel worse than when people say things like "oh mg god I was so depressed when I heard the show was cancelled" no no no. No you weren't. Depression is a monster, not a day-long down feeling.

[driedpancake]

It would be nice if the penguins could form a colony.

[SoraCrownofHearts]

I really wish I knew what it felt like to not have depression or anxiety.. Or any other things just for a few minutes.. I wonder how calm and happy of a mind it would be. I bet it's amazing.. Maybe it's dull? Sometimes I get super happy though and I love those moments.. And then back to depression and anxiety.. But it's not a normal happy.. It's a mind going into a kid like state.. Being happy about literally anything. Like puddles... Ants.. Clouds.. Or animals.. Anyone else feel like that daily? But at night I usually have rotten self esteem and the feeling of hopelessness if I am not distracted by tv. A game. Or YouTube.

[lucindathefaithful]

My mom is bipolar and suffers from every one of those things at 3:42. And can I say, it's a NIGHTMARE. I live alone with my mom and even though I'm not the kid who got the bipolar disorder passed down to me, it feels like I did from having to deal with my mom's 24/7. I have everything in your psychology #29 video about the OCD and anxiety disorder which occurs constantly. That really is incredibly miserable to deal with, but bipolar disorder is FAR worse in my opinion. I can't even imagine having these depressing thoughts all the time and not having any control of your moods and actions.

*The following are things I've experienced from my mom*:
-Not being able to get a job because you might flip out and yell at people so we will forever be poor.
-Not being able to make any plans because you never know how you will feel that day.
-Ruining your credit rating because you charge up credits cards and go into debt, having to have HUD and then can never buy a house.
-Crying for no reason, laughing for no reason.
-Getting crazy ideas like, "Let's get in the car and run away leaving everything behind after a shopping trip with no concern that your daughter has school the next day."
-Sleeping in because you have nothing to look forward to when you're up.
- Not being able to sleep at all because you're constantly having thoughts about all your problems and stress.
- Feeling doomed even when there's nothing bad going on.
- Not wanting or forgetting to eat.
-Eating junk food and candy to make yourself feel better and to have something to look forward to.
- Spending 2 hours in the car trying to make a decision about what we need to go get and what will be less stressful (because you didn't write it down ahead of time. When in reality we could have gotten it done in that amount of time.)
-Not wanting to cook or clean ever.
-Just waiting to die while sitting around your house watching tv and using computer. -Wanting to get help, but don't want to see anyone.
- Being in so many different moods that you could love something one day, and then hate it the next and completely forgot you even said you liked it or hated it.
- Never remembering anything you said you would do or promise.
-Trying to find a way out of everything that needs to be done.
-Not preparing for anything and then wondering why you're not ready.
-Not being organized and hating it, but don't want to actually organize anything.

There is plenty more, but this is already too long... This is only half of the things I have to deal with from just living with someone bipolar!

[melodieyc]

From someone with depression, I understand how it feels to be alone, helpless, or lost. It really makes it worse when people say, " it's just a phase, " " you're bumming me out ", " you're just upset/sad". It's not a "phase", it's unexplainable for me but it really can be terrifying at times to feel like you wear a shirt that says "depressed".

[buzzingnoise]

I always thought sadness was long term and happiness was temporary.

[Tullece]

I have bipolar myself and I really want to recommend some advice for others who have it as well.

Meditation helps tremendously, when you get more experienced with it you can reach states where the mind is completely quiet. I *really* recommend getting into the habit of daily meditation, starting with 5 minutes a day at the beginning to get the hang of it.

Secondly I stopped trying to battle it, after all it will be with us forever so instead I saw it not as a foreign object in need of control and/or destruction, rather as a natural part of me. In other words going with the flow is much less exhaustive then swimming against the rapids.

Thirdly, don't fall into the trap of wallowing,

"Oh why me, life is unfair, why can't I..." etc.

The reality is that it is there and wallowing and wishing for things to be different just puts you in a negative mindset, meaning you are more likely to fall into depression when this ultimately does nothing for you but put you down. Just accept that you are afflicted with it and remember it is a double-edged sword.

You should learn to take the overcast days with the sunny days.

After I changed my perspective on my Bipolar I felt so much more at ease, whereas before it was incredibly frantic trying to stay on top of it.

I hope this helps somebody! 😄

[linnakay]

"This is stupid"
"Why are you getting upset over nothing"
"You need to grow up"
"There is nothing to cry about"
"Just get over it"
"This is your problem"

:(