Some days you wake up and you know it — something’s off.

Other days, it hits slowly. A surge of energy that doesn’t belong.

A hopelessness that wraps around your chest like a belt.

How does it feel?

Bipolar disorder isn’t just “mood swings.” It’s a storm system in the brain. It’s mania. Hypomania. Depression. Sometimes all of them at once. Sometimes one after the other, before you’ve had time to catch your breath.

It affects around 1–2% of people in Denmark. Men. Women. No preference. It usually starts young. Late teens. Early twenties. But it can take nearly a decade to name it — and longer to understand it.

Too often, the early warning signs are dismissed. Hypomania can look like being in a really good mood. Or being productive. Or being full of brilliant ideas. Until it isn’t. Until the crash comes.

The illness doesn’t travel alone. Anxiety, substance use, isolation, and financial trouble are often along for the ride. And then there’s the elephant in the room: suicide. The risk is real. But there is help.

Relapses are common. But so is recovery. And treatment — real, committed treatment — can make life not only bearable, but meaningful

What causes bipolar disorder?

No one chooses this. No one wakes up one morning and decides to live inside a hurricane.

Bipolar disorder has many roots. Some you can see in your family tree. Others hide in how you respond to life. It’s not your fault. And it doesn’t mean you’re broken.

Genetics

If bipolar disorder runs in your family, it increases the chances that it could show up in you too. If a parent or sibling lives with it, the risk is about 1 in 10. If you’re an identical twin, the chance jumps dramatically. But even here, genes don’t make the decision alone. They just leave the door open.

Brain Chemistry

Inside your brain, chemicals like dopamine and serotonin help carry messages between nerve cells. In bipolar disorder, this system doesn’t always fire the way it should. Treatments like medication often aim to rebalance this delicate wiring.

Triggers

Sometimes there’s a trigger. Sometimes there isn’t.

But for many, something tips the balance:

• Lack of sleep
• Intense stress (good or bad)
• Jet lag
• Birth or hormonal shifts
• Alcohol, cannabis, or drugs like cocaine or speed
• Even antidepressants, if given without care

Light can be a trigger. Many manic episodes arrive with spring or fall. Some depressions deepen with the dark months.

Life events matter too. Heartbreak. Grief. Losing your job. Falling in love. Even things that should feel good can be too much for a sensitive system. For some, it takes very little.

Stress is like a spark to dry grass. If you’re already vulnerable, even a small flame can start a wildfire.

You are not to blame

It’s easy to look back and think: I should have handled it better. I should have seen it coming.

But bipolar disorder is not something you can control by willpower. It is not a weakness or a failure of character.

It is something you live with. Not something you caused.

And there is help.