Rapid cycling is when a patient with bipolar disorder experiences four or more mood episodes in a year. It is not a separate form of bipolar disorder but a symptomatic pattern that can be difficult to treat. Rapid cycling patients experience mania and depression more commonly than other bipolar patients, and it tends to be more drug-resistant. Psychotherapy and group therapy can help patients and their loved ones manage the disorder.
Rapid cycling is defined in many psychiatry textbooks as four or more mood episodes in the same year for a patient with bipolar disorder. This is not a separate form of bipolar disorder, but rather a distinctive, symptomatic pattern that can come and go, depending on the patient. Some people with bipolar disorder never experience these mood episodes, others may experience them regularly, and some experience them intermittently. It can be difficult to treat patients while in a rapid cycling phase.
People with bipolar disorder can experience mania, extremely elevated mood, and depression. In a mixed episode, both are experienced at the same time, but more commonly, patients transition between these two states and may also have periods of stability in which they feel relatively neutral. This psychiatric disorder can be treated with medications such as lithium, along with psychotherapy to help the patient deal with problems as they arise.
With rapid cycling, people have episodes of mania and depression more commonly than other patients with bipolar disorder. Some patients may cycle four or five times a year, while others may experience much more rapid changes in their mood. In some cases, doctors use terms like “ultrafast cycling” and “ultrafast cycling” to refer to patients who experience changes within a few days or within the same day. In these cases it is important to distinguish diagnostically between rapid cycling and mixed episodes.
For reasons not fully understood by psychiatric professionals, rapid cycling bipolar disorder tends to be more drug resistant. If a patient was successfully using medications to manage the disorder, it may no longer be effective, and new medications may not work as well. Patients can try a variety of medications to see if there is a drug that will help them get the rapid cycle under control, and psychotherapy can be used to explore possible triggers that may have acted as a catalyst to cause this condition in the patient.
For patients, these mood swings between episodes can be traumatic and frustrating. Family members, partners, and friends may also struggle to survive their loved ones’ mood episodes and adjust as they work to manage their bipolar disorder. Patients and their loved ones may find it helpful to meet with a mental health professional in group therapy who can provide advice and suggestions on how to help loved ones with mood episodes. Group therapy with other bipolar patients can also be helpful for some people.
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