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Manic Depression: Periods
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A period during which symptoms of a manic and a depressive episode are present at the same time. People who experience mixed states describe feeling activated and "revved up," but ... full of anguish and despair. Rapid, pressured speech can co-exist with impulsive, out-of-control thoughts of suicide and self-destruction or aggression. Hopelessness, irritability, uncontrollable swings between racing thoughts and a feeling of "being in blackness" can all happen over the course of minutes.
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Bipolar disorder is often a cyclic illness where people periodically exhibit elevated (manic) and depressive episodes. Most people will experience a number of episodes, averaging 0.4 to 0.7 a year with each lasting three to six months, although some will experience only a single mood episode.[7][8] Late adolescence and early adulthood are peak years for the onset of the illness.[9][10] These are critical periods in a young adult's social and vocational development, and they can be severely disrupted by disease onset.
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There are different types and patterns of manic depressive episodes. Some people may only experience a few episodes in a five year period while others may have ten episodes a year and constantly be going back and forth between the two moods or returning to an "even keeled" state.
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