Essays --

Bipolar disorder is classified as a chronic illness that may require a life-long treatment plan to keep under control. Bipolar disorder is also known as manic-depressive disorder. A person that has bipolar disorder can experience drastic variations in their moods ranging from manic highs to depressive lows. Bipolar experiences can vary all depending on the individual. Through this paper we will look at the influences, causes, symptoms, and treatments of this disease. Over two million Americans are diagnosed with bipolar disorder. This rise in diagnosis of bipolar disorder is contributed to the inaccurate diagnosis of this disease. To begin to understand bipolar disorder, knowing the two main categories Bipolar I and Bipolar II is a must. Bipolar I disorder is the state of this disease where the individual diagnosed has high depressive manic cycles. The individual displays feelings of increased socialization, talkativeness, self-importance, and impulsivness. People experiencing this manic-depressive state often sleep for a few hours. This sleep deprivation can cause these individual's depression to spike causeing them to be very angry and irritable. Patients with Bipolar II display a form of mania called hypomania. Unlike Bipolar I, individuals diagnosed with Bipolar II have low energy levels, hypersomnia, and fatigue easily. Bipolar disorder is extremely dynamic in the sense that it does not just affect the individuals mood. Bipolar disorder affects patient's ability to manage feelings, it takes a toll on their mind and body, and bipolar disorder makes it extremely difficult to cope with everyday life. This disease causes major psychological pressure. Bipolar disorder does not discriminate among race, ge... ...isodes. In other cases, episodes can be directly related showing seasonal patterns. These cases are called "rapid cyclers" meaning four episodes within twelve months. In patients with Bipolar I the disease usually starts with a manic episode. The manic episodes that the individual has outweighs the depressive episodes. In Bipolar II patients suffer from sever depression. They might undergo slight manic episodes, but depressive episodes do outweigh them. In mixed states depressive and manic symptoms occur simultaneously in rapid successions. Bipolar disorder can be life threatening due to the extreme mood swings between the sense of hapiness or despair and grief. The continuous alteration between episodes makes it profoundly difficult to deal with everyday normal life and situations. This can cause an increased risk of suicide in bipolar disorder patients.