Bipolar disorder 3
Bipolar disorder 3Manic-depressive illness, or bipolar disorder, is a psychiatric disorder and brain disease is characterized by severe mood swings, from mania to depression. Bipolar Disorder is a biological disease of the brain. It is caused by a chemical imbalance. It affects more than 2 million Americans and may have a strong genetic link Men and women are equally likely to develop this disabling illness. Bipolar disorder changes lives, affects relationships, and can be deadly. There is no know cure for the bipolar disorder but it can be treatable with medication and therapy.
1% of the population will have a manic depressive illness. Environmental factors such as death, separation and divorce may trigger the disorder. The illness manifests itself with the individual experiencing episodes of mania or elation followed by low mood or depression. The number of manic and depressive episodes varies greatly from person to person and most individuals experience "normal" periods between their manic and depressive episodes.
Manic depression can send a person plunging from a high state, where one may believe one has superhuman energy and abilities, into a pit of despair, where it may seem as if the only way out is suicide.
There are two types of bipolar, bipolar 1 and bipolar 2. Bipolar 1 is diagnosed differently than bipolar 2. Bipolar I is diagnosed when person has a manic episode and has had no depressive episodes in the past. However, after the first manic episode occurs, depressive episodes often follow. Most people (over 90%) with Bipolar I experience two or more manic episodes in their lifetimes. (site.health-center.com/brain/bipolar/basics.htm).
People with Bipolar II have depressed mood followed or preceded by a hypomanic episode. People with this type bipolar disorder never have a full-blown manic episode. Because of this, Bipolar II sometimes goes unrecognized or
is misdiagnosed as clinical depression.
(site.health-center.com/brain/bipolar.basics.htm)
Sometimes a person with bipolar disorder can become so depressed or manic that she or he does not recognize the need for help and refuses treatment. For example, when a person has become hopeless and suicidal, delusional, dangerous to others, or has lost the ability to function in everyday life, someone else may have to help him/her get into treatment. Most people with bipolar disorder are admitted to the hospital at some time during the course of their illness. During the course of their illness,...
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