Cyclothymic Disorder - A Very Frustrating Disorder to Have and to Deal With

The Cyclothymic Disorder is a placid outline of Bipolar Disorder of which the person will have mood swings in the range of mild or moderate depression state to euphoria and enthusiasm, but still will stay connected to the reality.

Cyclothymic Disorder is a chronic and irregular mood disturbance that involves plentiful periods of hypo manic symptoms and loads of depressive symptoms. This means that this is a long term condition where the person who has this disorder will have mood cycles in between hypomania. Even if this is a mild to somewhat severe case, it could include having delusions, hallucinations or other psychotic characteristics the depression that can come with it also can be mild to somewhat severe but would not be unbearable or in the depths of despair (suicide).

Cyclothymic Disorder or also known as Cyclothymia

The causes of Cyclothymia disorder are unidentified. Even though the vast changes upon the mood are quite erratic and rapid, the mood swings are far less severe compared to the Bipolar Disorder Manic Depressive Illness.

Symptoms:

1 Sporadic episodes of hypo manic phases and mild depression that will last for maybe at least 2 years

2 The affected person will tend to be more ill-tempered or dark, more than euphoric or happy

3 Unrelenting symptoms with not less than about 2 symptom-free months in a row

The Diagnosis:

3 All of the symptoms does not qualify as major manic or even major depressive episodes

4 All of the symptoms almost never ease up for more than two months

5 There was never a Manic, Mixed or Depressive Episode in the initial two years of symptoms

6 An additional disorder is not accountable for symptoms

7 All of the symptoms are not triggered by drug or any general medical condition

The Exams and Tests:

It will depend upon the person's own portrayal of what his or her behavior was, and this will most often lead to the diagnosis of the disorder.

The Treatments:

The treatment for the Cyclothymia Disorder will require a combination of the anti-manic drugs, some anti-depressants, or can be psychotherapy. There will also be medications that will be use in treating this disorder and they are the mood stabilizers.

8 Lithium: Lithium has been indeed used for some years now with patients who have bipolar disorder, and it can be of help to those patients who have Cyclothymia disorder.

9 Anti-seizure drugs: These are drugs such as carbamazepine (Tegretol), lamotrigine (Lamictal), oxcarbazepine (Trileptal), and Valproic acid (Valproate), which are the most well-known anti-seizure drugs. But aside from these anti-seizure drugs, there are also some that are used for Bipolar Disorder such as topiramate (Topamax), gabapentin (Neurontin), and zonisamide (Zonegran).

The patients that have Cyclothymic Disorder have the possibility of not responding to the medication compared to the patients with Bipolar Disorder.

Support Groups:

- For any patient to have the capability of easing out the stress of the illness, joining a support group with members who can share the same experiences and problems will be of help.