Bipolar Disorder

Mental illness comes in many forms one of the most prevalent forms facing people today is depression. The realm of depression encompasses many different types and forms, some of these are, Seasonal Affect Disorder commonly called SAD, Bipolar Disorder, Postpartum, Chronic Depression, and situational depression to name a few. When many people think about depression they think about a person who is stereotypically down on life. However they don’t see the people who suffer from extreme highs, as well as extreme lows. They don’t see the people who at one point in time can feel really optimistic, and have grad plans. They may be impulsive and make risky choices without thinking about their consequences. The next day they could have problems sleeping, thoughts of suicide, and be very irritable in nature (Segal, 2). These different symptoms are possible signs of bipolar disorder. This papers goal is to explore these highs and lows, the types of bipolar, as well as types of people who are prone to this disease, the types of common behaviors found in people with bipolar, and the kinds of treatment that can be taken.

Most people are in there late adolescent to early adult years when they have their first encounter with a bipolar disorder episode. Another prevalent characteristic for those who are diagnosed with bipolar disorder is a genetic link; many people who develop bipolar disorder have an immediate family member with the disease. Many people who develop symptoms of bipolar are misdiagnosed initially due to the confusing onset of symptoms (Segal, 2). Another group of people who strangely enough have a predisposition to bipolar disorder are Americans; Americans bipolar disorder rate is at 4.4%.; whereas, the worldwide rate is at 2.4%...

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...nding their lives. I believe that they thought at that point they were only hurting their families by their depressive actions, they probably thought by ending their lives they were making it better for their families. I sincerely hope that one day we will find a way to end the cycle of depression so that no one has to go through the pain that many people all over the world have had to go through when someone decides to end their life. One time in my family was enough two times was two times too many. The best thing you can do as a family member of someone of bipolar is be familiar about the disorder the more you know the more you can do to help should the need arise. One should also familiarize themselves with the warning signs of a possible suicide. I have given a brief introduction to bipolar as a medical condition but there is so much more to know and learn.