How Are Bipolar Disorder and Depression Linked?

Ashley Kirkman

Younger

Eng 1113; Section 0356

27 September 2005

How are Bipolar Disorder and Depression Linked?

For many, life is stressful and hectic and for a portion of Americans, who lead frenzied lives, this chaos and confusion further fuels the burning fire of psychological disorders such as bipolar, depression, post- traumatic stress disorder, and many others. Two of the most closely related psychological disorders are Bipolar Disorder and Depression. Although these disorders do have many of the same characteristics, there are factors that determine the likeliness of a person “acquiring” one of these disorders. Because the two are so closely tied, society automatically assumes that bipolar disorder and depression are one in the same. There is proof, with the aim of showing that people who suffer from bipolar do experience depression, but this does not necessarily mean that people who experience depression will also experience bipolar; the two are not interchangeable. In fact, bipolar can be described as suffering