Bipolar Disorder ��” Causes and Symptoms
Bipolar disorder occurs in both men and women. About 5.7 million people in the United States have the disorder. There is no racial group that is more afflicted by this disease. Because of the extreme and risky behavior that goes with bipolar disorder, it is very important that the disorder be identified. With proper and early diagnosis, this mental condition can be treated. Bipolar disorder is a long-term illness that will require proper management for the duration of a person’s life.
A mood disorder sometimes called manic-depressive illness or manic-depression that characteristically involves cycles of depression and elation or mania. Sometimes the mood switches from high to low and back again are dramatic and rapid, but more often they are gradual and slow, and intervals of normal mood may occur between the high (manic) and low (depressive) phases of the condition. The symptoms of both the depressive and manic cycles may be severe and often lead to impaired functioning.
Mania is separated into two types: Full mania and hypomania. Mania may be characterized by a decreased need for sleep, decreased self-control, overspending, increased sexual activity, irritability, rage, risk-taking behaviors, and in the more severe cases psychotic states. Hypomania is described as having the same behaviors, to a less extreme level.
Bipolar II disorder is characterized by major depressive episodes alternating with episodes of hypomania, a milder form of mania. Bipolar depression may be difficult to distinguish from unipolar depression (depression without mania, as found in major depressive disorder). Patients with bipolar depression tend to have extremely low energy, retarded mental and physical processes, and more profound fatigue(for example, hypersomnia”a sleep disorder marked by a need for excessive sleep or sleepiness when awake) than people with unipolar depression.
How do you get bipolar disorder?
Experts today believe that bipolar disorder is caused by several different things, including a chemical imbalance in your brain.
Bipolar disorder also seems to run in families. About two thirds of people with bipolar disorder have a close relative who also has the disorder, or who suffers from severe depression.
Causes
The cause of bipolar disorder has not yet been discovered. Many researchers believe that heredity is an important factor. Two-thirds of bipolar patients have a family history of mental disorders. Some research studies claim to have found a genetic link for bipolar disorder. Genes are the chemical units present in all cells that tell cells what functions to perform. Genes are passed down from parents to children.
Bipolar disorder in children and adolescents can be hard to tell apart from other problems that may occur in these age groups. For example, while irritability and aggressiveness can indicate bipolar disorder, they also can be symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, conduct disorder, oppositional defiant disorder, or other types of mental disorders more common among adults such as major depression or schizophrenia. Drug abuse also may lead to such symptoms.
Mood Stabilizers
Mood stabilizers are drugs that provide acute relief from mania, provide acute relief from depression, and prevent recurrences of mania or depression.
The most commonly used mood stabilizers are:
Lithium (Eskalith, Lithobid, Lithonate)
Divalproex sodium (Depakote)
Carbamazepine (Tegretol, Carbatrol)
Oxcarbazepine (Trileptal)
