My psychiatrist once compared rapid cycling bipolar to a ride at the fair: once it starts, it picks up speed and the faster it goes, the harder it is to slow down. She couldn’t have been more right. However, I would add that the faster it goes, the more devastating the effects can be.
About 10 to 20 percent of people with bipolar may experience rapid cycling. It is diagnosed after four episodes of depression, mania or hypomania occur within a year. Some will also experience the dangerous mixed state where depressive and manic symptoms are present at the same time.
Rapid cycling bipolar is more common in women and in those whose first episodes occur in childhood or adolescence.
Some people experience ultra-rapid cycling bipolar, where their episodes change daily, or ultradian rapid cycling, where they experience a number of mood episodes within a day.
Unfortunately,