Brissey

Tracie Brissey

Danielle Schleicher

Ivy Tech Community College

Exposition and Persuasion

ENG 112

April 20, 2014

Bipolar Disorder-Primarily a Biological Disorder

Bipolar disorder is generally thought of as an emotional disorder until recently. Now with

new technology it is becoming more apparent that bipolar disorder is in fact a biological disease

just as epilepsy or diabetes is. People who have bipolar disorder suffer from psychological and

emotional side effects brought on by the physical changes occurring in the brain.

These physical changes can be seen in neuroimaging tests. These tests prove that the

bipolar brain is very different from a normal brain. Functional magnetic resonance imaging

(fMRI) can see that the changes occurring when the bipolar person is going through a depressive

episode. Dysregulation of nerve cell networks or pathways that connect brain areas that process

emotional information (Joseph Goldberg) creates the depression in the bipolar brain. This

problem causes a person to feel anxious, hopeless or pessimistic. It is also the reason for having

low energy and difficulties making decisions. A bipolar person in a depressive episode also has

changes in their sleeping habits and tends to have suicidal thoughts. Suicide is the number one

cause of premature death among people with bipolar disorder, with 15 percent to 17 percent

taking their own lives (Treatment Advocacy Center -Bipolar Disorder Fact Sheet). This means

every one in five persons with bipolar disorder will take their own life and more than that

attempt to commit suicide. At least 25% to 50% of patients with bipolar disorder also attempt

suicide at least once (K. Jamison)

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Another physical difference that can be seen on imaging tests is the variance in brain size

between the normal brain and the brain of bipolar person. The frontal cortex in the bipolar

brain is physically smaller than those of a normal adult brain. Studies have shown that a childs

brain is not completely developed until approximately the age of twenty-five (Brain Maturity

Extends Well Beyond Teen Years). Until a childs brain reaches full maturity, his/her frontal

cortex is not mature enough to control the childs impulses. Adults with bipolar disorder have the

same issue. They are unable to control their impulsiveness due to the size of their brain. The

physical changes that occur in a bipolar persons brain create shifts in mood, energy, activity

levels, and the ability to carry out day-to-day tasks (National Institute of Mental Health: Bipolar

Disorder). As the persons condition progresses this portion of the brain physically shrinks. This

is also why many people do not find out that they are bipolar until adulthood when the brain is

no longer growing but in fact is showing signs of shrinkage. Studies have shown that many drugs

that seem to help those with bipolarism are actually reversing this shrinking frontal cortex which

helps them gain more control over their impulses.

While the impulsive behaviors can now be explained physically and the depressive

episodes can be physically seen on an imaging test so can the manic episodes be seen on fMRI

imaging tests. The amygdala is the area in the brain that controls the emotions. If the physical

changes did not occur in the amygdala then the emotional reactions would not happen. Some of

the physical changes are a decreased need for sleep, euphoric mood, increased talkativeness,

racing thoughts or jumping from one idea to another, an increase in activity and energy levels,

changes in thinking, attention, and perception, and impulsive, reckless behavior (Miklowitz).

Until functional magnetic resonance imaging is used as a normal routine test for bipolar

disorder, people will continue to argue that the only problem with people that have bipolar
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disorder is that they are over emotional. Society looks at them as weak. Society likes to claim

that people with bipolar disorder just like to act impulsively and then blame their disorder for

their bad behavior. Time and education will change this thought process. Society used to also

believe that children were fully developed at the age of eighteen and now because of in depth

studies they realize that the brain physically is not mature until further along in adulthood.

Society also argues that everyone has emotional ups and downs in life but those normal

emotional changes cannot be seen on a neuroimaging test like the bipolar changes show. Another

problem with this argument is that medications have been developed that help stabilize these

changing bipolar episodes. People with normal emotional highs and lows show no change

when put on these medications. The reason that normal people see no difference is because their

emotional states are completely caused by their feelings whereas the bipolar brain is undergoing

physical changes that create the emotional states. Unfortunately, all society sees is the emotional

changes going on and therefore they blame it weakness.

Society would also like to believe that bipolar disorder is a mental condition because the

person with this disorder seeks help from a psychiatrist. It is true that psychiatrists help treat

bipolar disorder because these doctors are specially trained in emotional dysfunctions and the

physical changes in the bipolar brain bring on emotional dysfunctions but there is more to

treating a bipolar person than psychotherapy. Medication and life style changes are required in

order to treat this condition.

Modern medicine is finally able to locate the parts of the brain that are causing the

physical problems with people who have bipolar disorder unfortunately the symptoms that go

with these physical problems create emotional and mental disturbances so psychiatric help is
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necessary to control the symptoms. There are now medicines to correct or at least control the

physical problems just as insulin helps a diabetic control their sugar levels but to get the

medicines people must seek help for their condition.

Bipolar disorder is a physical disorder with emotional side effects and while it is

incurable, it is treatable.
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Works Cited

"Brain Maturity Extends Well Beyond Teen Years." 10 October 2011. NPR. 17 April 2014.

Jamison, KR. "Suicide and bipolar disorder." 2000. US National Library of Medicine National Institute of
Health. 13 April 2014.

Joseph Goldberg, MD. "WebMD: Depression." 10 November 2013. WebMD. 2 April 2014.

Miklowitz, David J. "The Bipolar Disorder Survival Guide." Miklowitz, David J. The Bipolar Disorder
Survival Guide. New York: The Guilford Press, 2002. 15-16.

National Institute of Mental Health: Bipolar Disorder. 3 April 2008. 1 April 2014.
<http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/bipolar-disorder/index.shtml>.

Treatment Advocacy Center -Bipolar Disorder Fact Sheet. 2011. 11 April 2014.
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Many people learn to live with their disorder the same way that a diabetic learns to live

with their diabetes. They must learn what medications work for them. They must have a medical

professional experiment with different medications to find just the right doses then the bipolar

person must learn to monitor their condition and learn to regulate their lifestyle. Just as a diabetic

must know how much sugar they can ingest, a person with bipolar must know just how much

sleep they need; how to control the stress in their life and to identify the changes in their moods.

Bipolar disorder is not a death sentence unless left untreated. It is vital that people understand

that their condition is manageable and that they can live long healthy lives but to do this society

needs to change its opinion and start calling bipolar by its true problema physical disorder.