Bipolar Disorder Research Paper

There are a lot of health issues that millions of people face throughout life and among these psychological disorders can be some of the most destructive and difficult to live with. Psychological disorders can arise from a multitude of reasons, but the most common reason is either genetics or something that occurred in a developmental phase. They can cause all kinds of problems ranging from loss of memory to delusional episodes to severe mood swings. Bipolar disorder causes people to have extreme mood swings and in most cases can be helped with medication. It is a pretty common disorder affecting nearly 2 million Americans and many go undiagnosed. As with many health issues there are a couple different types of bipolar disorder, but they all

Bipolar II disorder is defined as: “a pattern of depressive episodes and hypomanic episodes, but no full-blown manic or mixed episodes”[1]. Basically this means that a person would have a period of time where they are depressed and periods where they are feeling excited. So this is very similar to Bipolar I disorder except the duration of mood swings are much shorter and less severe, also the individual does not experience any extreme cases of mania. This is not as bad, yet problems can still arise because many suicides are linked to bipolar disorder and it can be tough to stay mentally strong when emotions are all over the place. One of the main differences between Bipolar I and Bipolar II is that Bipolar II there are no manic episodes but hypomanic episodes are. “Hypomanic episodes are ones where the person is full of energy, very outgoing and competitive, sleeps much less, and is fully functional. This may not be the case with manic”(Nordqvist). It is good that the individual is fully functional and feels great at the time, but at the same time the down end of this is terrible because they feel deflated, separated from society, and depressed. These people also have trouble with relationships, jobs, and certain aspects of life because it can be very short notice before they go into a depressive state or get moody

Cyclothymia is a very mild form of Bipolar disorder where a person may feel normal but will have bouts of feeling “high” and times where they feel a mild depression that does not last very long. In fact these symptoms are so mild that it might not seem like anything is wrong with the person but the symptoms are not in the range of “normal”. “Symptoms and signs may occur during any time in someone’s life, but will usually do so in their teen years or early adulthood”(Nordqvist). Stress is a big factor in someone who lives with Bipolar disorder and a lot times can make it worse. BP-NOS or Bipolar disorder not otherwise specified is extremely similar to Cyclothymia, except this is diagnosed when symptoms of Bipolar I or II do not exist but the patient is not within the normal range and this can include a much wider range than Cyclothymia. With this there are no options that can cure Bipolar disorder but medications and other treatments can be implemented so the symptoms are much lighter and can help people live the life they want to live without the extreme mood swings. Family, friends, and other people associated with an person that has Bipolar disorder can also play a big role in stabilizing their mood, emotions, and