Psychosis cont.
diagnosed if symptoms have been experienced most of the time for over a month. For the symptoms to be diagnosable they must also have had a significant impact on the young person’s ability to work, study or perform daily tasks. The earlier schizophrenia is treated the better the outcome for the young person (226). Bipolar disorder Some young people experience a combination of depression and mania with extreme mood swings. A correct diagnosis of bipolar disorder can take a long time. This is because the young person needs to have had episodes of both depression and mania, and different people take different amounts of time to move between these two extremes (183). A young person experiencing mania may: – Be overconfident and full of energy – Be very talkative – Have rapid thinking or speech and find it difficult to stick to one subject in conversation – Be full of ideas – Have less need for sleep – Take risks they normally wouldn’t, such as spending lots of money or being more sexually active – Have grandiose delusions, such as unrealistic and inflated self-esteem – Feel irritable, which may occur if others disagree with their unrealistic plans or ideas or they are feeling fatigued During episodes of depression, the young person has some or all symptoms associated with depression .
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