Lesson Plan for Bipolar Disorder

1. Powerpoint
a. 2 Truths and a lie
i. What is bipolar disorder
1. On average 5.7 million adults in
the United States are affected by bipolar disorder, which is
equivalent to the population in wisconsin and about 2.6% of
the adult population.
2. It occurs in roughly 3-5 percent of
the population, depending on how we define it. It turns out
that more than half of patients will actually have their first
episode before age 20.
ii. What is the frequencies of the mood shifts.
1. There is no one answer to how
frequent a mood shift can occur it depends on the person
and the severity of their disorder. The picture in the bottom
2. Mood shifts can occur up to
several times a week or as few as only several times a year
3. One specific extreme in a mood
swing can last weeks or even months
iii. Are there different types of bipolar disorder?
1. Bipolar I disorder- at least one
manic or mixed episode, and at least one major depressive
episode; each episode may last several weeks or months.
most severe type
2. Bipolar II disorder- at least one
major depressive episode that can last up to two weeks and
at least one hypomanic episode that lasts up to four days,a
manic episode would not occur
3. Cyclothymic disorder- numerous
periods of hypomania symptoms and periods of depressive
symptoms which have occurred for a minimum of two years;
symptoms occur at least half the time and never go away for
more than two months at a time
4. Rapid Cycling- four or more
mood episodes within a 12 month period
5. Not otherwise specified- does not
follow a particular pattern of episodes
b. Video
i. video analysis (Kayla D)
c. Survey Analysis
i. Me and kayla sisk Surveyed 40 people from
our school, kayla is now going to go over the analysis from the
survey.

1. Derogatory term use:

a. Can you raise your
hand if anyone has used these terms before.
d. Background information (Presented by Kayla Sisk and
Morgan)
i.

What behaviors and symptoms is bipolar

associated with?
1. Manic episode
a. definition: showing
wild and apparently deranged excitement and energy
b. Mood changesi. a
period of an overly happy or outgoing mood
ii. extre
me irritability
c. Behavioral
changesi. having
racing thoughts/talking very fast
ii. easily
distracted
iii. overly
restless
iv. increa
sing number of activities/projects
v. sleepi
ng minimal hours/lack of tiredness
vi. engag
ing in high risk behaviors
2. depressive episode
a. Mood Changesi. an
extended period of sadness or feeling hopeless
ii. loss of
interest in once enjoyed activities
b. Behavioral
changesi. overtir
ed
ii. proble
ms concentrating, remembering, and making
decisions
iii. feeling
restless or irritable

iv.

chang

e in eating or sleeping habits

i.

v. thoug
hts of death or suicide, attempting suicide
How is it misunderstood or how have people

with bipolar disorder been neglected, abused, mocked, or blamed

for their mental illness?
1. This survey is from the
depression and bipolar support alliance.
a. 18%~ They are not
just like everyone else.
b. 19%~ They should
not have children.
c. 26%~ They are
easy to identify in the workplace.
d. 29%~ They do not
live normal lives when treated
e. Two-thirds of survey
respondents also held the incorrect belief that mood
disorder medication are habit forming.
2. Stigmas like these forces people
not to seek the help that they need.
ii. How the stigma is intensified for adolescents?
1. The difficulty behind finding if a
child has bipolar disorder is that you do not know if the child
is only going through a phase.Is the child only going through
a phase in their life?
2. Symptoms can be more severe
when they occur in early childhood and teenage years. Their
is a higher risk of suicide in these people and in a study it
was found that one and three attempted suicide.
iii. What are some examples of bullying due to
bipolar disorder?
1. Children who are bullied early on
in life are at high risk for problems at school, social isolation
and low self-esteem. These issues can lead to dropping out
of school, substance abuse and addiction, suicidal
tendencies, abnormal behaviors and psychological
disorders, like bipolar disorder.

2. It was assumed that bipolar

disorder was caused by a genetic deformity, recent research
has indicated that evidence supports the theory that bipolar
disorder is mostly brought on by environmental factors:
a. Sexual abuse
b. Physical abuse
c. Discrimination
based on sexual identity or race
d. Being poor and
living in a wealthy community
e. Substance abuse
or misuse
f. Poor diet or
weight issues
e. Article titles from the media (Presented by Morgan)
i. Media's perspective of bipolar disorder
ii. How does the media treat people with Bipolar
disorder?
1. These are all quotes that a
reporter from Fox News Radio host Tom Sullivan told a caller
who said she suffered from bipolar disorder. complaining that
people with mental illness have figured how to "game the
system" by receiving disability benefits. "They're mostly
government employees and they know how to do it," he
added. Sullivan also defended Sen. Rand Paul's (R-KY)
controversial and false statement that "Over half the people
on disability are either anxious or their back hurts."
i. How media is skewed or intensified fear of
bipolar disorder?
ii.

What news events have gained attention and

has media equated bipolar disorder to violence, fear

iii. How has tv shows, postings, movies, ect
intensified stereotypes or fear?

iv.

What are positive examples in the media that

emphasize of people with mental illness can be successful,

intelligent, resilient and creative?
v. Are their any role models who have battled
mental illness?
1. The erratic behavior of creative
people is often attributed to having bipolar disorder. Actress
and singer Demi Lovato, learned she had bipolar disorder
after rehab. In 2010, Lovato entered rehab after dealing with
depression, an eating disorder, and self-harm. She
discussed her diagnosis as "I never found out until I went
into treatment that I was bipolar
2. Van Gogh had earlier suffered
two distinct episodes of reactive depression, and there are
clearly bipolar aspects to his history. Both episodes of
depression were followed by sustained periods of
increasingly high energy and enthusiasm, first as an
evangelist and then as an artist.