Are People With Bipolar Disorder More Likely To Abuse Others, Or Be The Victims Of Abuse?

— -- Question: Are people with bipolar disorder more likely to abuse others, or be the victims of abuse?

Answer: That's complicated and it depends probably on the age of the person who has bipolar disorder, and also on the phase of the illness. When somebody is in the manic phase, during the mixed phase, they can be irritable, angry and sometimes aggressive.

And in this stage of the illness they can cause harm to their loved ones, to their family and friends and also to strangers.

So in this particular case, they're more likely to be abusers, in the terminology that you are asking.

On the other hand, when patients with bipolar disorder are depressed and they spend most of the time, 90 percent of the time, depressed and not manic, they're likely to be withdrawn, to be sad, and in this particular case they're likelier to be victims of their own violence.

For instance, suicide attempts are very common, and successful suicides are quite common.

And also there's more chances that they're going to be not abused, but certainly criticized, but treated poorly sometimes by their family and friends, and strangers who are tired of their behavior.

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