Bipolar Disorder

Bipolar Disorder: Balancing Between Highs and Lows
 

What Is Bipolar Disorder?

Bipolar Disorder is a mental health condition characterized by extreme mood shifts — from emotional highs (mania or hypomania) to devastating lows (depression). These episodes impact energy, activity levels, sleep patterns, and the ability to carry out everyday tasks. It’s not just “moodiness” — it is a serious and chronic disorder that requires proper attention and care.

According to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH, 2022), an estimated 4.4% of U.S. adults experience bipolar disorder at some point in their lives. It affects both men and women almost equally, though the patterns and intensity may vary.

Core Features of Bipolar Disorder

• Manic Episodes: Elevated or irritable mood, increased activity, decreased need for sleep, inflated self-esteem, and impulsive behaviors.
  
  

• Depressive Episodes: Deep sadness, hopelessness, fatigue, feelings of worthlessness, and thoughts of death or suicide.
  
  

• Mixed Features: Symptoms of mania and depression can sometimes appear together, making the experience even more disorienting.
  
  

• Cycling: The timing and duration of mood episodes vary from person to person — some have frequent shifts, while others may go years between episodes.
  
  

Causes and Contributing Factors

1. Genetics: Bipolar disorder tends to run in families. If a person has a parent or sibling with the disorder, their risk increases substantially.
   
   

2. Neurochemical Imbalances: Irregularities in neurotransmitters like serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine play a significant role.
   
   

3. Stress and Trauma: Major life changes or traumatic events can trigger episodes or make symptoms worse.
   
   

4. Sleep Disruption: Changes in sleep patterns can provoke or signal the onset of an episode (Harvard Medical School, 2021).
   
   

How Society Interacts with the Disorder

• Stigma and Misunderstanding: Bipolar disorder is often wrongly stereotyped as being unstable or unpredictable. This leads to social isolation and internalized shame.
  
  

• Access to Treatment: Many with bipolar disorder do not receive appropriate mental health care, either due to lack of resources, poor healthcare access, or denial of the illness.
  
  

• Cultural Perceptions: In some communities, manic episodes may be interpreted as spiritual awakenings or divine inspiration, while depressive phases are dismissed as laziness or weakness.
  
  

• Gender Norms: Emotional expression in men may be labeled as aggression, while in women it may be trivialized as “overreaction” (World Health Organization, 2019).
  
  

HAQ’s Embrace

At the Home of Abrahamic Quiver, we recognize that the mind’s storms are not simply chemical or clinical — they may also be spiritual cries for help. Bipolar disorder’s cycles can resemble the ancient battles between light and darkness, clarity and confusion. We believe that such profound inner turmoil deserves more than labels — it demands compassion, discernment, and spiritual intervention.

When you walk into HAQ, we do not diagnose your soul — we care for it. We do not reduce your suffering to episodes. Whether your spirit is soaring or sinking, we walk with you. We offer prayer, protection, and guidance rooted in faith. Without judgment. Without stigma. We are here to realign what feels torn apart — not just in the brain, but in the soul.

References

• National Institute of Mental Health. (2022). Bipolar Disorder. Retrieved from https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/bipolar-disorder
  
  

• Harvard Medical School. (2021). Understanding Bipolar Disorder. Retrieved from https://www.health.harvard.edu/mind-and-mood/understanding-bipolar-disorder
  
  

• World Health Organization. (2019). Mental Disorders Fact Sheet. Retrieved from https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/mental-disorders
  
  

• Mayo Clinic. (2023). Bipolar Disorder - Symptoms and Causes. Retrieved from https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/bipolar-disorder/symptoms-causes

"I Don’t Know Who I’ll Be Tomorrow"
A fictional narrative from a 22-year-old living with bipolar disorder

It’s hard to explain the feeling of being two people.

Some mornings, I wake up invincible. My body buzzes like it’s plugged into the sun. I don’t need sleep. I don’t need food. I just need to do. I start painting at 3AM. I write ten pages of a book I didn’t know I was writing. I text everyone I love and tell them that something big is coming — that I know I’m meant for something beyond this world.

Colors get louder. Ideas flood in faster than I can catch them. I talk too much, laugh too hard, spend money I don’t have. I’ve told people I was a prophet. I’ve told people I was cursed. Sometimes, in the middle of it, I actually believe I’m both.

But then it happens.

The crash.

It’s like a trapdoor opens beneath me, and suddenly I’m drowning in tar. I can’t move. I can’t even think straight. My mind slows down so much it hurts. I’ll stare at the same spot on the wall for hours. I cry for no reason — or maybe for every reason. I forget what happiness feels like. I forget that I ever felt good at all.

People around me don’t understand. Some call me lazy. Others call me intense. A few friends disappeared when things got hard. My parents tiptoe around me like I’m a bomb that might go off. Sometimes I think I’m too much. Sometimes I think I’m nothing.

The worst part? I never know who I’ll be tomorrow. The man on fire, or the one buried in ice.

HAQ’s Embrace

At the Home of Abrahamic Quiver, we don’t view bipolar disorder as a riddle to be solved or a case to be managed. We see it as a deep spiritual upheaval — the kind that can’t always be explained by scans or scales. When someone walks through our doors caught between mania and despair, we don’t ask “what’s wrong?” — we ask how we can stand with them.

Our response is not pharmaceutical — it is prayerful. We answer chaos not with fear, but with sacred discipline. We sit beside the restless. We guard the hearts of the overwhelmed. We restore a sense of order through devotion, presence, and unwavering compassion.

What medicine calls madness, we treat as a soul in distress — and we offer not a cure, but a covenant. To walk with the suffering. To shield them from shame. To hold space for their return.