High-functioning bipolar disorder can be one of the most deceptive mental health conditions to have. From the outside, your life may appear to be perfectly manageable; you maintain a job, pay your bills, have an active social life, and keep up appearances. But the ability to function despite major mood instability can delay proper diagnosis and treatment for years.
Calling bipolar disorder “high-functioning” doesn’t mean it’s mild or unimportant. Rather, it means you’ve had to develop exceptional coping strategies to mask its symptoms and meet your daily expectations. Yet, sadly, the energy required to do so can come at a tremendous cost: exhaustion, relationship difficulties, isolation, and struggling to feel at peace.
Learning more about the hidden symptoms of high-functioning bipolar disorder – and recognizing when you need more intensive support – can help you find the comprehensive care you need to find a new sense of stability and overall well-being.
This page can help you better understand high functioning bipolar disorder by exploring:
Bipolar I disorder involves at least one manic episode lasting seven days or more, or manic symptoms severe enough to warrant hospitalization.2 Mania is an abnormally elevated and expansive mood that’s frequently accompanied by increased energy and activity.1 During a manic episode, people may feel euphoric and invincible, needing very little sleep and taking dangerous risks. In some cases, someone may also experience hallucinations or delusions.
Bipolar II disorder involves hypomanic periods, a milder form of elevated mood that lasts for at least four straight days.2 While hypomania shares many of the same features as mania, the difference is that hypomania doesn’t cause as severe an impairment as mania. Rather, hypomanic episodes can often feel positive or productive, which can also make them harder to recognize.
Both Bipolar I and bipolar II disorder involve depressive episodes that meet the criteria for a major depression. This includes ongoing sadness, changes in sleep and appetite, fatigue, difficulties concentrating, and potentially thoughts of suicide.2
These periods of depressed mood often last longer than the elevated mood seen in mania or hypomania, and the cycling between states can differ from person to person. Some people can experience more rapid changes (known as cyclothymic disorder), while others might have long periods of stability between mood episodes.2
What to Expect
Insurance Verification
Our team will verify if your insurance provider is in-network with an AMFM Healthcare Facility.
Contact From Admission Representative:
Expect a call within an hour from an admissions representative to discuss treatment options.
Everyone’s experience of bipolar disorder is different, and your hidden symptoms might be more contained and carefully hidden from others. For example, you might experience…3
Productivity during mood episodes: You continue working and attending to your obligations, meeting responsibilities even when experiencing mood shifts – though the effort might feel exhausting.
Why High-Functioning Bipolar Disorder in Successful Adults Can Go Undiagnosed
For many adults, getting an early bipolar diagnosis can be difficult. High-functioning adults often excel at masking their symptoms, leaning into a narrative that nothing is seriously wrong.
For some, stigma and shame can be powerful motivators. So you might minimize your symptoms, attributing changes in mood to stress or normal reactions to life circumstances.
Further, the idea of being “high-functioning” can also become a barrier to receiving a diagnosis. For instance, if you’re succeeding in other areas, it might be easy to convince yourself and others that you don’t have a serious mental health condition.
Healthcare providers might also miss the signs of bipolar disorder when someone only presents with depressive symptoms, leading to a misdiagnosis of major depression.4 Some people might not even recognize the symptoms of hypomania or may choose not to mention them, thinking that they’re more indicative of feeling productive and engaged. Manic symptoms might also feel like a welcome relief from depression without recognizing these elevated moods as something that requires treatment.
So, in a nutshell, bipolar depression warning signs can complicate diagnosis. The symptoms are mostly indistinguishable from unipolar depression, and antidepressants prescribed for it could trigger hypomania or worsen mood cycling.5
High-functioning bipolar disorder can be highly complex, which means it often requires innovative and intensive care. While outpatient therapy can be an effective choice for some, the intensity of symptoms and hidden tolls of mood instability often benefit from more immersive care.
We cover some varying treatment options for high functioning bipolar disorder over the following sections.
Residential treatment for bipolar disorder offers a high level of support for adults whose high-functioning appearance is beginning to crack. These programs provide psychiatric care around the clock, giving you a place to step away from the responsibilities and pressures that masked your symptoms for so long.
You don’t have to work to hide your struggles in a residential setting. Allowing yourself to relax can help the treatment team collect important information about your symptom patterns and develop an effective treatment plan. Plus, the structured daily schedule – including individual therapy, group sessions, psychiatric appointments, and wellness activities – can create stability that helps regulate mood while you learn new coping strategies.
For many adults struggling with bipolar and mood disorders, this might be the first time in years they’ve had permission to focus entirely on their mental health.
Medication plays an important role in treating bipolar disorder. This is because the condition involves neurobiological changes in the brain that usually require medication to regulate effectively.
Mood stabilizers can help prevent the extreme highs and lows that accompany bipolar disorders, while other psychiatric medications might address any associated symptoms like sleep disturbances or psychotic features.
However, finding the right medication combination takes time and collaboration with a provider who understands mood disorders. The process can involve trying different medications and dosages while monitoring for effects and side effects. Identifying the right medication in residential treatment settings is often helpful, allowing for quicker adjustments and ensuring your safety.
Bipolar disorder is a chronic condition that requires long-term management, and many high-functioning adults sometimes resist the idea of lifelong treatment. However, taking medication and participating in long-term management is no different than any other chronic health condition – it’s a tool that allows you to live fully, not a personal failing.
Combining medications with therapy for bipolar disorder helps to address all the emotional, psychological, and behavioral challenges it presents. Mood stabilizers and other meds can help regulate brain chemistry underlying mood episodes. Further, therapy works to address the coping strategies you can use to create a new balance in your everyday life.
For example, cognitive-behavioral therapy can teach you to recognize the early warning signs of mood shifts, along with challenging distorted thinking patterns. Dialectical behavioral therapy teaches you new emotional regulation and distress tolerance skills, and family therapy can help your loved ones better understand the challenges of bipolar disorder and provide support.
You’ve spent years proving you can handle bipolar disorder on your own – but handling it and healing from it are two different things.
At A Mission For Michael, our residential treatment programs give you permission to slow down and start the recovery process. Our caring teams provide the daily support you need to stabilize and learn new skills, giving you space to focus entirely on your mental health.
No matter your treatment needs, AMFM has got you covered. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help.
What to Expect
Insurance Verification
Our team will verify if your insurance provider is in-network with an AMFM Healthcare Facility.
Contact From Admission Representative:
Expect a call within an hour from an admissions representative to discuss treatment options.
The aim of this page was to help people better understand the signs and treatment options for high functioning bipolar disorder, but it’s natural to still have some concerns or queries. The following responses to FAQs about the topic may help.
Absolutely. Many people with bipolar disorder maintain successful careers, relationships, and stable lives – which is exactly what makes high-functioning mood disorders difficult to recognize.
Your ability to meet responsibilities and achieve your goals doesn’t mean your bipolar disorder isn’t real or serious. It just means you’ve developed exceptional coping mechanisms to manage your symptoms.
Success despite bipolar disorder is possible, but success with proper treatment can feel far less exhausting and last much longer.
While outpatient therapy and treatment can work well for those with stable medication plans and strong support systems, it isn’t effective for everyone. Severe mood symptoms, ongoing instability, or major feelings of fatigue in keeping your life under control can indicate a need for residential care.
Your treatment team can help you determine the best level of care for you based on your specific circumstances, which will include your goals for treatment, needs, and preferences.
The fear of loss can keep many high-functioning adults from seeking the care they need, but it’s important to consider the long-term costs as well.
Untreated (or undertreated) bipolar disorder can lead to burnout, poor decisions during mood episodes, deteriorating performance, and eventual crises that can force emergency intervention at inopportune times.
Taking planned time for residential treatment allows you to address your symptoms and challenges proactively, allowing you to return to work with better focus and consistency.
