Symptoms And Treatments Of Bipolar Disorder - 2392 Words

Bipolar disorder is a common mental neurological illness that currently affects approximately 5.5 million Americans that are at least eighteen years or older. There are an estimated 51% of individuals with this condition who are untreated in any given year. Individuals diagnosed with this disease have mood swings that alternate from periods of severe highs (mania) to extreme lows (depression). Suicide is the number one cause of premature death among people with bipolar disorder, with 15-17 percent taking their own lives as a result of negative symptoms that come from untreated illness (TAC, 2011). People with bipolar disorders can be characterized as wild, frantic, pacing, out-of-their-mind, and extremely depressed. Taking a look into what†¦show more content†¦Bipolar disorder is characterized by more than one bipolar episode. There are three types of bipolar disorder: Bipolar 1 Disorder, in which the primary symptom presentation is manic, or rapid (daily) cycling episodes o f mania and depression. Bipolar 2 Disorder, in which the primary symptom presentation is recurrent depression accompanied by hypo manic episodes (a milder state of mania in which the symptoms are not severe enough to cause marked impairment in social or occupational functioning or need for hospitalization, but are sufficient to be observable by others). The last one, Cyclothymic Disorder, a chronic state of cycling between hypo manic and depressive episodes that do not reach the diagnostic standard for bipolar disorder (APA, 2000, pp. 388–392) (NCBI, 2012). Manic episodes are characterized by: A distinct period of abnormally and persistently elevated, expansive, or irritable mood, lasting at least 1 week (or any duration if hospitalization is necessary) (NCBI, 2012). During the period of mood disturbance, three (or more) of the following symptoms have persisted and have been present to a significant degree: increased self-esteem or grandiosity, decreased need for sleep (e.g., feels rested after only 3 hours of sleep), more talkative than usual or pressure to keep talking, flight of ideas or subjective experience that thoughts are racing, distractibility, increase in goal-directed activity (either