Running head: BIPOLAR DISORDER 1

Bipolar Disorder

Charlotte Diaz

Saint Leo University

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Bipolar Disorder

Bipolar disorder is a term that is used to describe a mental illness which has many

Dysthymia effects on the mind and the body of its victims. The condition is also known as the

manic-depressive disorder. Research that has been conducted shows that the condition is mostly

found in young adults and since recently in children as well. Studies have also shown that in the

United States alone the condition affects close to 4 million people and is slowly being considered

as one of the most common disabilities amongst Americans. Women in their mid-forties are also

at a high chance of developing the mental disorder. After developing the mental disease, a typical

patient may experience up to ten episodes of other mental disorders in the course of their

condition. For women who suffer rapid-cycling, they may experience more manic episodes and

depressive episodes that happen after each other without leaving space for remission (National

Collaborating Centre for Mental Health, UK, 2006).

The condition is characterized by two specific mood swings, namely mania, and

depression. These mood swings that almost constantly affect bipolar people can further be

divided into three subcategories, namely bipolar I disorder (BD-I), bipolar II disorder (BD-II),

and Cylothymia. This paper seeks to discuss the disorder in general, as well as summarizing a

short history of the condition, the subcategories of the condition, the symptoms, causes, and

treatments of the disease (Miklowitz & Alloy, 2009).

The existence of the bipolar disorder was discovered during the ancient Greek era. The

Greeks took it that this type of manic depression disorder was a condition of the blood, choler,

phlegm, and black bile. The condition was thought to be associated with human body fluids

because these fluids are responsible for homeostatic imbalances within the human body.
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According to the Greek academics, ensuring that the body was in a homeostatic equilibrium

would cause humans to develop a need to purge themselves or release into the blood stream

specific amounts and quantities of these fluids. Plato, the scholar, was strongly founded on the

belief that the disorder was caused by inspirations such as God, love, and writings. Other

scholars slightly agreed with Plato but imagined that the disorder was as a result of

environmental factors including the concept of God and Satan, stress, poverty, and education.

Spiritual factors were also for a long time believed to influence a persons vulnerability to

bipolar disorder. After many years of research, researchers narrowed down the causes to either

issue of emotion, and intellect. The intellect which includes rational thinking, behavior, and logic

was considered more of a cause of the disorder rather than an instability of emotions (Murai &

Fujimoto, 2003).

According to Charles Darwin, intellect was equally more of a cause of the disaster rather

than emotional instability because of the inability to predict and comprehend the emotions of a

person. After years of research, the manic-depressive disorder has been associated with chemical

imbalances in the human brain. These years of research have helped scientists to uncover more

information about bipolar disorder including its symptoms, causes, and the severity of treatment

(Miklowitz & Alloy, 2009).

Manic depressive disorder is a condition that greatly affects the human mind. For a long

time, the condition was also referred to as manic depression and manic-depressive psychosis

until 2001 when it was officially clinically named bipolar disorder. The condition forces the mind

to experience changes in thoughts causing mood swings. The two mood swings that the bipolar

people experience. People suffering from this condition tend to either alternate between a
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depressive episode and a manic episode or in some cases experience these two episodes

simultaneously. During the manic episodes, the patient remains irritable, energetic, lacks the

need for sleep, and makes poor judgments and inferences. It could also participate in

irresponsible and reckless behavior. The depressive episodes leave the patient with sentiments of

sadness and despair, which eventually mature into helplessness and hopelessness. It also includes

anhedonia, lack of appetite, psychomotor retardation, laziness, worthlessness, indecisiveness,

and suicidal thoughts. The condition is also characterized by the increase in the severity of these

mood swings over a span of several years or a few days for specific cases. The symptoms and

causes of this condition can be easily picked out as they are easily recognizable. The diagnosis of

a manic episode can be made whether or not a depression has been diagnosed (Vieta & Colom,

2004).

The condition is categorized into three main groups, organized from the lowest to the

highest case severity of the disorder. In the first category, bipolar I disorder (BD-I), the main

symptom is a rise in the amount of manic mood swings that an individual experiences taking a

toll on the daily activities of that individual including school, work, or family. Common effects

of increased episodes of manic mood swings include aggressive behavior, extreme optimism,

insomnia, abuse of alcohol and drugs, religion, agitation, and irritation. In the second category,

bipolar II disorder (BD-II), the victims are faced with a difficult task of enduring depressive

mood swing episodes. They encounter emotions of happiness, suicidal thoughts, guilt, sadness,

anger, and irritability. In the final category of Cyclothymia, the form of bipolar disorder with the

lowest severity, the individuals experience the highs and lows of depression. These depressive

episodes take place over a period of years, days, or hours depending on the seasonal changes and

hallucinations or psychosis episodes. In the event that a bipolar instance presents hallucination
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and psychosis episodes, the condition may be misdiagnosed for schizophrenia. Speech pattern

tests should be conducted to distinguish if the patient only suffers from manic-depressive

disorder or schizophrenia and other related mental conditions (Murai & Fujimoto, 2003).

The severity of the bipolar disorder can be managed to make the condition less severe for

those who suffer from it. One of the ways that this condition can be treated includes the use of

medication. The medication taken has chemicals used to correct the chemical imbalances in the

brain, balancing mood swings and reducing the chances of depressive and anxious episodes.

Finding a suitable type of medication for every individual with bipolar is a challenging affair

because certain medications tend to negatively affect the mental health of that individual (Vieta

& Colom, 2004).

Negative effects of the medication include worsening the symptoms a bipolar person may

already be suffering from. However, there is certain medication like lithium carbonate which

positively affects up to 60% of all patients with the mental disorder. This medication is also

effective in reducing the symptoms of the condition and in preventing manic episodes. Lithium

medication has for a long time been associated with decreasing the functioning of their thyroid

glands after long-term use. Hypothyroidism is feared to have the potential of causing rapid-

cycling. For pregnant women, the use of lithium medicine during gestation has been associated

with causing birth defects in children specifically the Ebsteins anomaly. Most of the

antidepressants, patients of this mental condition are given, are mixed with mood stabilizers to

prevent the occurrence of depressive and manic episodes. People should, however, remain

warned that anti-depressants could worsen the severity of mood changes and manic episodes

National Collaborating Centre for Mental Health, UK, 2006).

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Another way bipolar people can be treated is by the use of psychotherapy. Psychotherapy

is a type of therapy where the patient is encouraged and helped to recognize their mental disorder

as well as its causes and symptoms. It also encourages the patient to take control of their own

lives and steer it towards the direction that they want to. Other advantages of psychotherapy

include the ability to reduce the severity of the symptoms. This is because the patient is usually

aware of the condition responding even better to the treatment methods employed. The method

also aids to make the patient more responsive to the medication and allow them an opportunity to

be responsible for the management of their moods and emotions. Psychotherapy is further

divided into cognitive behavioral therapy for the patients and social and interpersonal types of

rhythm therapy. This groups of psychotherapy are specifically aimed at reducing the symptoms

of the mental condition as well as helping the patients to deal with conflict, personal loss, drug

abuse, and role changes (Miklowitz & Alloy, 2009).

The final way a manic-depressive disorder patient is through hospitalization although this

is an option for crucial cases of the disorder. In the event that the patient becomes suicidal or

slowly starts to show signs of psychosis, the patient should be hospitalized immediately.

Hospitalization gives the patient an opportunity to be closely monitored by the many specialists

that are constantly watching over patients at the hospital. It also allows specialists to analyze the

responsiveness of the patients and how well they respond to the medication administered to them

(Lewinsohn, Klein, & Seeley, 2000).

Since the condition causes individuals to have strange fluctuations in their moods, the

performance of bipolar patients in normal daily activities is negatively impacted. The with can

become very chronic although its patients can always seek treatment to regain their mental
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stability. Treatment can help the patients to regain their healthy and happy lifestyle if they

collaborate with health care providers to help themselves get out of the situation. However,

freshly diagnosed patients are usually afraid to accept their condition because of the

stigmatization that is associated with this disease. Stigma is defined as the action of judging

someone based on their personal attributes or traits they cannot change about themselves.

Stigmatization can negatively affect the recovery process because it can hinder a patient from

gaining treatment which could instead negatively affect the condition of the patient.

Collaborative partnerships in society are therefore important for the elimination of all types of

stigma towards persons with bipolar (Keck Jr, McElroy, Strakowski, Bourne, & West 2007).

Stigma can be divided into two types, namely self and public stigma. Self-stigma is a

situation characterized by the victim of a personal attribute or unchangeable trait believing all the

negative and judgmental views that have been said and passed against the victim resulting in

despair and low self-esteem. Public stigma, on the other hand, includes the perspective of the

public about a personal attribute or an unchangeable trait being negative or judgmental causing

despair or low self-esteem to the group of people the public negatively judges. Both self and

public stigma are negative and would undoubtedly make it difficult for victims of bipolar to cope

with their condition unless professionals, family, and friends show their support for the

recovering individuals Hlastala, Frank, Kowalski, Sherrill, Tu, Anderson, & Kupfer, 2000).

With more and more people becoming open about their struggle with bipolar disorder has

made it more bearable for people suffering from bipolar in the contemporary world. For instance,

the workplace has been made more accommodating for patients with bipolar disorder to help

them deal with work based conflict and pressures professionally. Leaders in the corporate world
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are beginning to see the importance of training their workers to cope with different situations

involving people who suffer from the condition. Schools have also taken up this approach by

informing instructors and bringing counseling professionals to help institutions combat the

impact of the disorder. Programs are also being taken up to reduce the preconceptions and

stigmatization against people with different types of mental illnesses through the provision of

adequate information (Henin, Biederman, Mick, Sachs, Hirshfeld-Becker, Siegel, & Nierenberg,

2005).

Bipolar as a mental condition has demonstrated to have negative developmental effects,

especially to the society. Some of the negative effects associated with the condition include

marital and family issues, leading to dissatisfaction in marriage and divorce thus affecting

children. Issues in the workplace have also emerged thanks to the disorder bringing about

occupational setbacks thus reducing the productivity and profitability of organizations. Since the

disorder presents challenges in dealing with personal loss, conflict, and changes, the lives of the

patients with the condition have been negatively affected by it causing financial disasters in one

way or another. For societies, the fundamental unit has been greatly affected causing an

inadequacy in society. Jobs have also been lost on a large scale thanks to the condition translating

into huge sums of money that society loses as a result of the disease (National Collaborating

Centre for Mental Health, UK, 2006).

In summary, the time the mental condition was discovered, during the era of ancient

Greeks, it has always been seen to be associated with spiritual and environmental factors,

emotions and inspirations. These factors have however been found to be far from the causes of

the disorder which include chemical imbalances in the brain. For this reason, the condition
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causes many effects on the brain and in other parts of the body. The condition is also known to

affect young adults and children the most. It is characterized by the occurrence of two different

mood swings namely mania and depression that could occur alternatively or at the same time.

The disorder is divided into three categories mainly Bipolar I Disorder, Bipolar II Disorder, and

Cyclothymia. The categorization is derived from the differences in the severity of the mental

condition some of the symptoms include depressive episodes, agitation, irritability, insomnia,

anxiety, and weight gain. The condition can be treated through either hospitalization, medication,

or psychotherapy to prevent the occurrence of these mood swings. Regardless of the fact that the

condition is a long-term mental disorder, the treatment methods suggested can suppress the

severity of the occurrence of these mood swings providing a means for the patient to lead a life

of mental stability (Keck Jr, McElroy, Strakowski, Bourne, & West, 2007).
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References

Henin, A., Biederman, J., Mick, E., Sachs, G. S., Hirshfeld-Becker, D. R., Siegel, R. S., ... &

Nierenberg, A. A. (2005). Psychopathology in the offspring of parents with bipolar

disorder: a controlled study. Biological Psychiatry, 58(7), 554-561.

Hlastala, S. A., Frank, E., Kowalski, J., Sherrill, J. T., Tu, X. M., Anderson, B., & Kupfer, D. J.

(2000). Stressful life events, bipolar disorder, and the" kindling model". Journal of

Abnormal Psychology, 109(4), 777.

Keck Jr, P. E., McElroy, S. L., Strakowski, S. M., Bourne, M. L., & West, S. A. (2007).

Compliance with maintenance treatment in bipolar disorder. Psychopharmacology

bulletin, 33(1), 87.

Lewinsohn, P. M., Klein, D. N., & Seeley, J. R. (2000). Bipolar disorder during adolescence and

young adulthood in a community sample. Bipolar disorders, 2(3p2), 281-293.

Miklowitz, D. J., & Alloy, L. B. (2009). Psychosocial factors in the course and treatment of

bipolar disorder: Introduction to the special section. Journal of abnormal psychology,

108(4), 555.

Murai, T., & Fujimoto, S. (2003). Rapid cycling bipolar disorder after left temporal polar

damage. Brain Injury, 17(4), 355-358.

National Collaborating Centre for Mental Health (UK. (2006). Bipolar disorder: the management

of bipolar disorder in adults, children and adolescents, in primary and secondary care.

British Psychological Society.

Vieta, E., & Colom, F. (2004). Psychological interventions in bipolar disorder: From wishful

thinking to an evidencebased approach. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 110(s422), 34-

38.
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