Tag: Celexa

About Bipolar II Disorder

Bipolar disorder is also known as manic depressive disorder. It is a mental illness that presents itself as mood swings or mood cycling. Many people do not realize that there are actually two types of bipolar disorder. Bipolar I disorder is typically defined as raging mood cycling with episodes of extreme mania and depression, as well as the occasional mixed episode. Bipolar I patients may also experience psychotic or hallucinating symptoms.

Bipolar II disorder is typically defined as rapid mood cycling with episodes of hypomania and depression. Bipolar II disorder does not occur with psychotic or hallucinating symptoms. Additionally, hypomania is defined as a milder form of mania, in which the patient has a period of hightened happiness or elation. Depression with bipolar II patients is often more severe than in patients with bipolar I disorder. Suicide, suicide threats, suicide attempts, and thoughts of suicide are much more common in bipolar II patients than bipolar I patients.

A diagnosis of bipolar II disorder is typically made when the patient has had one or more major depressive episodes, at least one hypomania episode, no manic episodes, and when no other reason for symptoms can be found.

Symptoms of depression with bipolar II disorder include decreased energy, unexplained weight changes, feelings of despair, increased irritability, and uncontrollable crying. Symptoms of hypomania include sleeplessness, racing thoughts, distractibility, excess energy, and rash judgements. These symptoms are similar to mania, but are less severe.

Treatment of bipolar II disorder typically involves a combination of medication and therapy or counseling. Medications typically prescribed for treatment of bipolar II disorder include anti-depressants such as Celexa, as well as mood stabilizers such as Topomax. Mood stabilizers are vitally important in treatment of bipolar disorders, because antidepressants alone can cause the patient to enter into a manic or hypomania episode.

Bipolar II disorder is actually often misdiagnosed as clinical depression. This is due to the fact that depression is most often present, and hypomania episodes rarely come to light in therapy sessions due to their upbeat nature. It is typically through treatment by antidepressants that the correct diagnosis is made, because the patient will spin into a hypomania episode almost immediately if the diagnosis should be bipolar II disorder rather than clinical depression.

Counseling or therapy treatment options for bipolar II disorder may include traditional counseling methods, discussion of triggers and life style changes that can lessen the severity of episodes, and cognitive behavioral therapy. Patients with a mild case of bipolar II disorder may benefit from counseling or therapy alone without medication. However, this is less common with bipolar II disorder than with bipolar I disorder, due to the nature of the severity of the depressive states.

It is vitally important for people with symptoms of bipolar II disorder to seek the help of mental health professionals as soon as symptoms become evident. Bipolar II disorder patients account for at least half of the suicides each year. To prevent suicidal behavior, it is important for bipolar II patients to be properly diagnosed at an early stage, so that ongoing treatment of the illness can begin and be continued in order to avoid suicidal behavior.

Treatments for Bipolar Disorder

Bipolar disorder, or manic depression, is a mental illness which causes mood swings and mood cycling. Mood cycling refers to the transition between mania and depression. Mania, or manic episodes, typically consist of feelings of elation and invincibility, and cause disorientation, lack of sleep, and obsessive behaviors. Depression typically consists of feelings of overwhelming sadness and low self worth.

There are many treatments available for bipolar disorder, ranging from medications to therapy. There are too many medications to be discussed here in depth. There are also many forms therapy can take, and techniques that can be learned to assist the patient in gaining some control over their bipolar disorder.

Typically, bipolar disorder is treated with more than one medication. This is due to the dual nature of bipolar disorder. Most patients need at least two medications: one to control depression and one to control mania. The combination of these two types of medication works to obtain balance in moods and stop mood cycling. Often, a third medication, called a mood stabilizer, is also prescribed. The most common mood stabilizer is Topomax.

Popular medications for treatment of mania in bipolar patients include lithium, valproate (Depakote), carbamazepine (Tegretol), olanzapine (Zyprexa), and ziprasidone (Geodon). Lithium has long been considered the miracle drug of bipolar disorder. It is a sodium based medication that helps to balance the chemical imbalance in the brain that causes manic episodes in bipolar patients.

Valproate, or Depakote, was originally developed as a seizure medication. However, its effects on bipolar patients who have rapid cycling bipolar (moods that cycle every few hours or days rather than weeks or months), it has been quite effective. Carbamazepine, or Tegretol, is another anti-seizure medication. While it appears to have similar effects on bipolar disorder as Depakote, it has not yet been approved by the Food and Drug Administration for use as a bipolar disorder treatment.

Olanzapine, or Zyprexa, and Ziprasidone, or Geodon, are both anti-psychotic drugs, and are particularly effective for treatment of bipolar disorder in which mania becomes so severe that psychotic symptoms are present.

Medications for treatment of depression are called anti-depressants. Common anti-depressants include citalopram (Celexa), escitalopram (Lexapro), fluoxetine (Prozac), paroxetine (Paxil), and sertraline (Zoloft). All of these medications have been proven to be successful treatments for depression, although Celexa and Prozac are the most commonly prescribed.

Typically, treatment of bipolar disorder includes a combination of medications and therapy, or counseling. However, in some cases, medication may not be necessary for milder cases of bipolar disorder. In other cases, medication may not be desired by the patient, and the patient may wish to seek out other alternatives to medication for treatment of their bipolar disorder.

For these patients, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) can be quite effective. CBT is a method of bipolar disorder treatment that involves teaching the patient techniques to recognize triggers and symptoms of their mood cycling, and use that information and recognition to prevent the triggers from occurring, or the mood cycling from being quite as severe. Most of these techniques require the patient to develop cognitive thinking skills as well as critical thinking and problem solving capabilities. If the bipolar disorder is severe to the point that the patient is unable to engage in these thinking abilities and skills, CBT may not be a viable form of treatment in and of itself.

Overall, there are many treatments available for bipolar disorder. There are many options for the patient that can be discussed with the patient’s doctors. If a patient is not satisfied with the form their treatment is taking, they should discuss it with their doctor, and not be afraid to change doctors in order to change treatment methods. All in all, effective and successful treatment of bipolar disorder rests in the hands of the patient.