Bipolar Disorder

Bipolar Disorder is a mood disorder that affects two-million people in the United States alone. Bipolar Disorder is characterized by extreme shifts in mood, up and down. Elation followed by depression. Categories of bipolar disorder include Bipolar1 and Bipolar 2. Cyclothymic Disorder is another form of bipolar disorder that is more chronic but is much less severe. Bipolar is a brain disorder that is chronic and left untreated can continue to increase in severity.

A person with Bipolar 1 Disorder will have recurring episodes of severe depression and severe mania. The majority of Bipolar affected persons are symptom free between these episodes. One-third will have some minor symptoms in between episodes and a small number have symptoms continuously. Bipolar 2 is classified by depression followed by less severe mania, called hypomania. Bipolar 2 can progress into the more severe Bipolar 1. A person is said to have rapid cycling bipolar disorder if they go through more than four episodes of alternating depression and mania within a twelve month period. Although rare, a person can cycle numerous times within one day.

In reference to rapid cycling,”…a severe variety of bipolar disorder that does not respond well to standard treatment. Approximately 20% of bipolar patients experience rapid cycling. As many as 90% are female, a higher rate than in other variations of bipolar disorder”(Durand/Barlow).

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, some of the symptoms of mania and depression that are signs of bipolar disorder when three or more are present for one week or longer(mania) and five or more are present for two weeks or longer(depression) and both mania and depression are present include : increased energy and restlessness, euphoric mood, irritability, distractibility, poor judgment, increased sexual drive, sleeping very little, and racing thoughts which lead to rapid speech. Signs of a depressive episode are: sad or empty mood, feelings of hopelessness, guilt, worthlessness, loss of interest in activities usually enjoyed(including sex), decreased energy, sleeping too much, unintentional weight loss or gain, and thoughts of suicide or death.

Causes of bipolar disorder are thought to be biological, psychological and social. Biologically, genes do seem to have some effect on mood disorders. There have been numerous studies done, some utilizing children that were adopted at an early age to allow for differentiating between genetic disposition and psychosocial environment. These studies show that mood disorders, like bipolar, do run in families. If there is mood disorders in your family, you aren’t guaranteed to have one but you do have a higher genetic vulnerability to develop a mood disorder. The genetic vulnerability seems to be higher in females than males. There doesn’t seem to be a specific gene for bipolar, it appears more to be that there is an all in one gene for mood disorders in general or possibly a whole slew of genes when combined in the right (or wrong) order predispose a child to mood disorders. A mother could have major depression and pass the vulnerability on to her child, who could develop bipolar. The way that these vulnerabilities manifest(if they do at all) is not strictly determined by a parents specific disorder and also depends on other factors. In people with bipolar disorder, serotonin levels are low, affecting norepinephrine and dopamine. We cannot tell these people to just get happy or calm down, as they have no control over their neurotransmitters!

Psychological experiences may account for the actual onset of a mood disorder. “Summarizing a large amount of research it is clear that stressful life events are strongly related to the onset of mood disorders. Despite this strong relationship, scientists are discovering that not all stressful events are totally independent of the depression. The relationship…in bipolar is also strong. However, several issues may be particularly relevant to the etiology of bipolar disorders. First, stressful life events seem to trigger early mania and depression, but as the disorder progresses these episodes seem to develop a life of their own. Once the cycle begins, a psychological or path physical process takes over and ensures the disorder will continue.” (Durand/Barlow)

People who develop bipolar are also psychologically vulnerable, possibly due to early childhood adversity or being around people with psychopathology. Exposure to these things in the child’s early environment actually changes the brain and the way a child will respond to stress later in life. If we take a female child born to depressive parents, raised by these same depressive parents and maybe a bipolar grandparent, let them experience a bad break-up in high school, we have the makings of a person likely to develop a mood disorder like bipolar. There is a genetic disposition, early exposure to people with