Janie's life was going well until about a year ago when her boyfriend of five years, Jim, suddenly decided to end their relationship. It was extremely difficult for Janie because the two of them had discussed marriage earlier in their relationship, but it came even more difficult when she found out that Jim later married one of her dear friends from high school.



Janie has has steadily gone downhill since that happened and her close friends and family have noticed things about her that they never had in the past. For example, Janie sometimes would talk rapidly where no one else could get in a word. She also began talking "out of sorts" about the faces she would see floating around in her house and how they were telling her that her father, an former active duty marine, would be entrusted with secret government materials that was going to save America in the war on terror. She would also sometimes laugh uncontrollably about small things that others really didn't find funny.

Janie may have been suffering from symptoms of Bipolar Disorder. People with Bipolar Disorder are also often referred to a Manic Depressive. People with Bipolar Disorder can have serious, sometimes even violent moodswings. As in the example above, Janie could just as easily go from laughing, to crying uncontrollably, to even lashing out in violence. Although you may not believe that a person who seems normally gentle could behave in this manner you must realize that people who are Manic Depressive do not have normal personality traits. Their "normal" state of mind may be as gentle as can be, but they can have violent mood swings that they're not in control of. Some Bipolar patients may lash out for no apparent reason at all.

People that suffer from this disorder can sometimes have delusions of doing something great or they may believe they have some type of magic powers or special abilities. They may also go through phases of needing very little sleep. This can also be a sign of drug use such as cocaine or methamphetamines. Bipolar Disorder can sometimes be very difficult to diagnose because of the multiple symptoms that are shared by other disorders, which by the way, may also be present at the same time. Read more below.