Bipolar

1. Bipolar Taylor, Megs, & Caitlyn

2. What is it? Bipolar disorder are known as mood disorders, people with bipolar disorder go through episodes of extreme mood swings. They have high highs and low lows that are mixed with depression. People with this disorder will appear energetic, excited and will be highly productive one day and extremely un-motivated and depressed the next. More severe cases will consist of a person acting erratically and impulsively, often making poor choices and may struggle with sleep. At the most severe cases, individuals can experience very distorted beliefs about the world around them.

3. How it effects day-to-day life. The time between episodes of patients with bipolar disorder was recognized to be consisting of relatively normal and average behavior. People with this disorder will wake up and immediately take medication at least three times a day to keep themselves under control. They may or may not get much sleep during the night and be tired or depressed at work or they might be energetic and happy, while changing moods throughout the day. The medications are expensive and the side affects of it could quite possibly affect their quality of life. A person could suffer from weight gain, drowsiness, tremors, feel weak, always be thirsty, have stomach pains, loss of memory and diarrhea, which could be a constant battle everyday for someone. But if their episodes are left unattended to, they become dangerous and self-harming throughout the day.

4. How young can it appear in a person? Generally bipolar disorder is most often diagnosed in more mature ages such as early teens and late childhood, but it is also a known fact that children can suffer from bipolar disorder at any age, age doesn’t matter but the younger it starts, the slower it develops. As young children it goes more un-noticed until the earlier or later teen years. It becomes more and more apparent as the individual gets older and suffers from more severe symptoms.

5. Fun? facts/stats • The belief that bipolar disorder is a mood disorder is half true, it is also cognition and mental task preforming disorder. • A false belief is medication will cure this disorder, but the best ways are to have healthy lifestyles with a planned diet, exercise, sleep and less stress. Therapy and religious/spiritual practice are also a great way to lessen the disorders affects. • Three times as many women as men experience rapid episodes. • Bipolar disorder is the sixth leading cause of disability in the world. • Bipolar disorder results in 9.2 years reduction in expected life span for an individual. • 20% of adults with major depression develop bipolar disorder within five years of becoming depressed.

7. Is it genetic? Bipolar disorder is not genetic; although there are some things that can contribute to an individual in getting it from genetics.The cause of bipolar disorder is a malfunction in chemical messages to the brain and can be caused by extreme stress in people like a traumatic event that acts like a trigger for it or even abuse of alcohol. If a person has a family member with this disorder they are 15-25% more likely to eventually get the disorder, but your not necessarily going to get it. Drugs are also a primary cause of this disorder, cocaine, ecstasy, over the counter drugs in unhealthy doses and even too much caffeine can lead to this disorder.

8. Are there medications for it? Management of this disorder is primarily reliant on medication; one of the medications with the best results tends to be ‘Lithium’, which increases activity with chemical messages in the brain to counter balance mental disorders. Its side effects consist of dizziness, muscle weakness, fatigue and dazed feelings. Carbamazepine is primarily used to control certain types of seizure patients. It works by reducing abnormal electrical activity in the brain and has side effects of drowsiness, vomiting, anxiety, heart burn, confusion, and vision problems. Lamotrigine is also used to treat seizure patients and is basically a stronger version of Carbamazepine and decreases abnormal electrical activity in the brain. Its side effects consist of double vision, loss of coordination, difficulty speaking, difficulty thinking, loss of consciousness, and sever sensitivity to light. Antipsychotics, and omega 3 fatty acids are also beneficial.

9. How do people react to it? On a daily basis, if medication is taken to subside the symptoms temporarily in the individual. The person suffering from bipolar disorder is generally not known to people around them to have this disorder until they experience an episode. People generally don’t know how to react to this disorder but it is like anything else, people don’t want anything to do with the patient, people are worried the patient might lash out, they are cautious around them and the individual is socially rejected. Unless the case of bipolar disorder is not severe at all, people usually keep away. Generally the initial response is concern they might get this disorder, fear of getting it, thinking people are crazy that have it, or the desire to have nothing to do with it.

10. graphs

11. Fun? Facts/stats • Studies have shown that 2.6% of the US adult population have this disorder currently. • Only 48.8% of those with the disorder are receiving treatment. • 38.8% of those receiving treatment are receiving minimally adequate treatment. • It is estimated that the total number of adults with this disorder world wide is around 5.7 million. 5% of the TOTAL population. • 77% of all people with this disorder are using Lithium to cure it. • 70% of people with this disorder will receive 1 misdiagnosis.

12. Citations • http://www.thebalancedmind.org/?gclid=CKbM_6il8boCFUlyQgodeRIAKw • http://www.healthcentral.com/bipolar/just-diagnosed-779-143.html • http://www.webmd.com/vitamins-supplements/ingredientmono-1065-LITHIUM.aspx?activeIngredientId=1065&activeIngredientName=LITHIUM • http://www.statisticbrain.com/ • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bipolar_disorder • http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/bipolar-disorder/index.shtml