A Summary of Bipolar Disorder

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BIPOLAR DISORDER
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Bipolar Disorder, often called Manic Depression, is a medical condition that involves severe mood swings in an individual. It is a lifetime condition that needs to be treated to keep it in remission (APA). It is not just a mental illness, but a medical disease involving the brain.

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The disease progresses as the years pass and the frequency of mood changing episodes becomes more frequent (MHN). Bipolar Disorder involves depressive and manic phases. With the symptoms presented, clinicians often misdiagnose patients as schizophrenics (Shalala).

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Bipolar affects an individual’s thoughts, feelings, health, behavior and ability to function. The disease is not a result of a weak personality, as many people believe.
Instead, it is a medical condition where there is an instability in the transmission of nerve impulses of the brain (neurotransmitters) that signal appropriate moods (NDMDA). The bipolar patient responds with inappropriate mood swings independent of what is going on around them (APA). Bipolar compromises the judgment of those that suffer from it.
Some even experience hallucinations (Shalala).

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The disease of bipolar itself is classified as Type I and Type II. Type I are those that have had prior episodes of mania. One percent of Americans are diagnosed with this.
Type II are those that have hypomania phases only (Shalala). A very small percentage (.6) of Americans have Type II.

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Bipolar disorder affects men and women equally. There is no discrimination when it comes to mental illness (MDA). Cycling is defined by the shifts from one phase to another. Women are more prone to the more rapid cycling. This is due to the different hormone changes in the female body. A male is apt to cycle every two to four years, while a female may cycle four or more times annually (Shalala).

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The best way to understand bipolar is to learn about the different phases that an individual experiences. There are four different phases: depressive, manic, hypomania and mixed episode (APA).

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The depressive phase can last for several months. The patient will show depressed behavior daily, weight loss, diminished pleasure, fatigue, feelings of worthlessness, lack of concentration, restlessness, insomnia or hypersomnia (over sleeping), impaired functioning and suicidal thoughts. These symptoms are present without any evidence of drug or alcohol abuse (L...

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