FREE ESSAY ON BIPOLAR DISORDER

BIPOLAR DISORDER

Bipolar disorder is perhaps one of the most tragic mood disorders today, because it
virtually taunts with the affected person's mind. Bipolar disorder also known as manic
depressive disorder is a mental condition in which the person alternates between feelings
of mania and depression. These feeling are extreme opposites, and thus create tremendous
mental and physical stress on the person affected. This unfortunate disorder affects one
to two percent of the adult population. Before bipolar disorder can b e fully understood,
the two main mood stages must first be identified. During an endless bout with bipolar
disorder, a person experiences many stages of mania and depressiion. Different symptoms
of mania included an increase in energy or activity, rapid speech, excessive excitement,
extreme irritability and distractibility, a decrease in the amount of sleep needed,
uncommonly poor judgment, or increased sex drive, denial, overspending, and high risk
behavior. All of these symptoms may not be prevalent in a bipolar disorder patient,
however, the more severe the case, the more likely all symptoms may occur. A depressed
episode includes the opposite characteristics, including a persistent sad or empty
feeling, decreased energy, loss of interest in activities normally enjoyed, difficulty
concentrating, change in appetite or body weight, and thoughts of suicide. There are also
two less severe stages in bipolar disorder a patient may go through, which are mixed
episodes and hypomanic episodes. A mixed episode contains characteristics of both manic
and depressive stages occurring at the same time. Mixed episodes are the most difficult
to treat, because different types of medicines are necessary for mania. A hypomanic
episode is characterized by less severe, less constraining symptoms of mania. Doctors
often overlook hypomanic episodes. When a person experiences a combination of four
episodes within a year the person is considere to be going through rapid cycling. Often
times, patients need combinations of drugs, which take a while to deciper, so it often
takes about a month to find the correct prescription for somone. Mood stabilizers are
mainly used for episodes of mania or hypomanis and sometimes for mixed episodes.
Currently scientists and psychotherapists are trying to determine how bipolar disorder is
caused. Studies have determined that bipolar can run in familes, so the disiorder is
genetic. Unfortunately, though doctors have not yet found any other causes.
Psychotherapists often do psychoanalysis of bipolar patients to find if anthing that
occurred earlier in their les led to the disorder.