Bipolar disorder Bipolar is a disorder associated with episodes of mood swings ranging from depressive lows to manic highs. The most common ages that suffer from the disorder are from ages 14-60 year old. A patients who suffer from bipolar disorder constantly shift between the two poles of the affective spectrum, that is, from depression to mania (or hypomania). There is no specific pattern that allows clinicians to predict what affective state the patient will present next, nor when he or she will cycle into a manic or depressive state. The fact that many patients can often last in a state of affective normalcy for years and then suddenly lapse into depression or mania makes this disorder horrendously difficult for the patient, clinician, and anyone involved in the patient’s life. It can be a very scary thing for people to go through. You can go from being extremely “happy”; to extremely upset within seconds, which is due to the serotonin levels in your brain. Bipolar disorder causes people to have mood swings which most of the time have nothing to do with anything going on in their lives. This disease is exactly that, a disease. People who get it cannot help it, just as people with cancer cannot help what they have received. Another name for bipolar disorder is manic depression, which is a very effective definition of the disease. Bipolar means 2 poles, in this case meaning mania and depression. When you have an increased level of serotonin on your brain, you are said to be hypomanic. When you have a low level of serotonin in your brain, you are depressed state. Bipolar patients have both of these going on at the same time throughout their lives, possibly even many times a day if they are what they call a rapid... ... middle of paper ... ... you can’t do it anymore, weeks when you know you haven’t made a difference but only wish you could, moments when you want to turn your back on it. It is their problem, not yours, and yet it becomes yours if you love the person suffering from it.You have no choice. You must stand by them. You are trapped, as surely as the patient is. And you will hate that trap at times; hate what it does to your life, your days, your own sanity. But hate it or not, you are there, and whatever it takes, you have to make the best of it.” Bipolar disorder is something that cannot be cured, but controlled, if in the right environment. I hope if I have taught you anything at all today, it is this: if you know someone who is like this, please, don’t turn your back on them. Stand by them and support them, because this is something that they will have to deal with for the rest of their life.
Bipolar Disorder (Formerly known as Manic Depression) is a mental illness linked to alterations in moods such as mood swings, mania, and depression. There is more than one type, Bipolar I and Bipolar II, and the subcategories are divided by the severity of the symptoms seen, such as cyclothymic disorder, seasonal mood changes, rapid cycling disorder and psychosis. Age of onset usually occurs between 15-30 years old with an average onset of 25 years old but it can affect all ages. (Harvard Medical School; Massachusetts General Hospital , 2013) Bipolar disorder affects more than two million people in the United States every year. (Gardner, 2011)
... Bipolar Support Alliance conducted a research study that indicated more than 2.5 million people suffer from Bipolar, also known as Manic Depression (Fawcett 3). The many faces of this illness is treated and stabilized with various types of medication and therapy. Furthermore, the family of the patient most likely will benefit from seeking therapy in their effort to help the patient with stabilization and living with this illness. All involved in the patient’s life is valuable in this process. Strategies for recovery include medication, visits with psychiatrists and other medical providers as needed, psychotherapy and support from family. These strategies can help people live with this illness affectively. No matter the type, Bipolar is a sickness and should be looked at and treated as such. People are much more than their illness and should be treated accordingly.
Bipolar disorder is a lifelong mood disorder characterized by periods of mania, depression, or a mixed manic-depressive state. The condition can seriously affect a person’s reasoning, understanding, awareness, and behavior. Acco...
It goes to show you that taking care of it is not harmful but without taking care of the illness it can be trouble. Two out of one scientist say people with Bipolar Disorder needs primary care. Bipolar disorder can result in behavioral issues that lead to interpersonal difficulty, including anger, abrasive communication, distrust and paranoia, and disrupted family, social, and health care relationships. Some causes he says is that people with Bipolar Disorder has a shorter lifespan than the general population about 8.5 to 9.0 years. (Culpepper) has a theory that people with Bipolar Disorder lives a short lifespan because of how much your mind has to change and how they stress. It is a fact that if you live without putting stress on your body and mind you will save some years off of your life. Bipolar Disorder patients goes through a lot of stress each day putting your mind and body through it. With stress comes ageing, weight gain, exhaustion, high blood pressure, ex. Under all that in time your body will shut down slowly. People with Bipolar Disorder tend to stress, anger, and have mix motions. Treating the illness can change your
...ple live with bipolar disorder everyday and have no idea they have it because they are in denial or have been wrongly diagnosed by a physician. I have only touched on some of the way that bipolar disorder can be treated. There are many other ways, some better, and some worse. With the information we know have bipolar and the knowledge that we will learn in the future, hopefully someday the disease we know as bipolar disorder will cease to exist.
It is very important for those living with bipolar II to have a good support system in place to help them stay healthy. This condition is a lifelong condition and needs to be monitored by a professional who specializes in this disorder. Therapy and medications do work and it’s important for the patient to follow through with them and their treatment plan to say healthy. Bipolar II has such a bad stigma surrounding it and it’s important to remember that this condition does not define the person who is living with it.
Modimore, Francis Mark. Bipolar Disorder: A Guide for Patients and Families. John Hopkins U. P., 1999
Bipolar Disorder can be classified by the occurrence of manic episodes followed by hypomanic or major depressive episodes. A manic episode is a distinct period of abnormally and persistently elevated, extensive, or irritable mood and abnormally and persistently increased goal-directed activity or energy, lasting at least 1 week and present most of the day, nearly every day. During the specific period of mood disturbance and increased energy or activity, many symptoms are present. Some examples of these symptoms can include: -Inflated self-esteem or grandiosity, decreased need for sleep, and are more talkative than usual (“Bipolar and Related Disorders, “n.d.). There is a 10- 15% risk of completed suicide associated with Bipolar Disorder (“Bipolar Depression”, 2)
Bipolar disorder is a brain disorder that causes unusual shifts in mood, energy, activity levels, and the ability to carry out activities of daily living (NIMH, 2009). People with bipolar disorder usually experience “mood episodes” (NIMH, 2009). An overly joyful or overexcited state is called a manic episode (NIMH, 2009). A manic episode is a distinct period of abnormally and persistently elevated, expansive, or irritable mood and abnormally and persistently increased goal-directed activity or energy, lasting at least 1 week, and present most of the day, nearly every day (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Some symptoms that are present during a manic episode are increased self-esteem or grandiosity, decreased need for sleep, more talkative than usual, flight of ideas or subjective experience that thoughts are racing, distractibility, increase in goal-directed activity and excessive involvement in activities that have a high potential for painful consequences (American Psychiatric Association, 2013).
Imagine a person who is the life of the party. They are the person from work or school who can take any project and have it completed perfectly, ahead of schedule. They wear new clothes and have a high fashion sense, they love to shop and spend money. They are always up for a challenge, wanting to be creative and fun. They live life to the fullest and everyone wants to be around them. Now imagine the opposite of that person, someone who is depressed, low, almost to the point of not even wanting to get out of bed. They are so easily irritated that even looking their way could set them off. No one wants to be around them and they don’t want to be around anyone. They want to be left alone in their misery, and anyone who tries to raise them out of their desolation is often met with an argument, pushing away the ones who just want to help. It’s hard to imagine that this could be the same person, but when you’re living with bipolar disorder this is often what happens, you never know which person you will be from day to day. Thankfully there are many treatment options to those that deal with this disease that allow them to live lives without so many of the roller-coaster moments.
Bipolar disorder is also known as manic-depression disorder, may cause unusual changes in mood and behavior such as grandiosity, decreased energy, distractibility, diminished interest, insomnia, pressured speech, suicidal thoughts, and decrease in the ability to carry out day to day tasks (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; 5th Ed.; DSM-5; American Psychiatric Association, 2013). According to Jann (2014) the symptoms of bipolar disorders are severe alternating between normal ups and downs leading in damaged relationships, poor job and school performance, and even suicide among the most severe. There are four types of bipolar disorder which include bipolar I disorder, bipolar II disorder, bipolar disorder not otherwise specified, and cyclothymic disorder Jann (2014).
Bipolar disorder is the condition in which one’s mood switches from periods of extreme highs known as manias to periods of extreme lows known as depression. The name bipolar comes from the root words bi (meaning two) and polar (meaning opposite) (Peacock, 2000). Though often bipolar disorder is developed in a person’s late teens to early adulthood; bipolar disorder’s early symptoms can sometimes be found in young children or may develop later on in life (National Institutes of, 2008). Bipolar disorder has been found to affect both men and women equally. Currently the exact cause of bipolar disorder is not yet known, however it has been found to occur most often in the relatives of people diagnosed with bipolar disorder (National Center for, 2010).
Bipolar Disorder is a serious and complicated mood disorder characterized by abnormal fluctuations between an individual’s high and low moods. Mania, Depression, Hypomania and Mixed Episodes are the predominant moods that can be identified in the different forms of Bipolar Disorder (GlaxoSmithKlein, 2007). The etiology, symptomology, and treatment for each mood and form of Bipolar Disorder vary as well. Moods can be identified by a person’s level of happiness, sadness, outlook on life and how he may physically feel (Mondimore, 2006). Patients struggling with Bipolar Disorder have difficulty regulating the euphoric highs of mania, the “black hole” feelings of depression, the “softer side” of hypomania and the incessant cycling of Mixed Episodes. With so many different forms of this mood disorder, Bipolar Disorder can be difficult to recognize and treat.
In conclusion, unfortunately this mental illness doesn’t disappear. Though Bipolar Disorder is a long term mental illness, they are treatments that can suppress the severity that will, in turn, aid the patient to live a more mentally stable life. The only support as a family member is standing by their side and never turning your back on them. It is a serious illness that affects the individual making it difficult to live each day with.
Bipolar disorder is a lifelong condition that can affect how you feel and how you act. It is a mood disorder caused by chemical imbalances in the brain that can result in extreme mood swings, from manic highs to depressive lows. Also known as manic-depressive disorders, bipolar disorder is categorized and determined as “a psychological state in which a person experiences a mood disorder causing radical alterations in their moods”. Elevated levels of either manic or depression are very common with a person affected by a bipolar disorder.