Bipolar disorder
Bipolar disorder is a mental health condition in which a person’s moods vary from one extreme to another. There are episodes of depression and episodes of mania (feeling ‘high’ and happy), often with stable periods in between. Treatment usually includes medication, such as lithium, to stabilise moods, and may also involve therapy. Bipolar disorder used to be known as ‘manic depression’. It can affect young people from around the age of puberty onwards but is very rare before then. It is thought that someone is slightly more likely to have bipolar disorder if someone else in their family is affected.