Tag: illness

What To Do If You Have A Bipolar Disorder Diagnosis

What To Do If You Have A Bipolar Disorder Diagnosis

Living with a bipolar disorder diagnosis isn’t easy. However, knowing, as they say, is half the battle. Once a diagnosis is established, a person has two main choices right off. They are whether to let the disorder take control of one’s life, or to fight it with every weapon in the modern psychiatric and psychological arsenal.

If fighting for normalcy is the answer, then a bipolar disorder diagnosis can make one aware of what one is fighting. Bipolar disorder can touch every aspect of a person’s life, so someone with a bipolar disorder diagnosis will need to be wary on all fronts.

First of all, if there is a bipolar disorder diagnosis then there must have been some sign of the disease. The more severe this manifestation is, the more likely one is to take notice. It is important, though, to treat the illness as soon as a bipolar disorder diagnosis is obtained.

Early treatment can often help prevent some of the more extreme manic highs and depressive lows of bipolar disorder. The earlier treatment is successfully begun, the less the devastating effects of the disease on the person with a bipolar disorder diagnosis.

Early treatment is helpful. The challenge is to keep someone interested in taking medications or engaging in talk therapy when there has been no crisis to set him or her on this path. Such a person needs to be convinced that their bipolar disorder diagnosis is accurate.

For others, the first signs of illness are so overwhelming they consider their bipolar disorder diagnosis to be a relief. For them, it is just good to know that there is a name for what is happening to them and that there are treatments.

For these people, it is extremely important to keep taking medications that are prescribed. This is a responsibility one has to oneself when he or she gets a bipolar disorder diagnosis. If the medication seems to be causing problems, it is important to contact the prescribing doctor to discuss the matter. If no satisfaction can be obtained, finding another doctor is even preferable to simply stopping the medications on one’s own.

Those with a bipolar disorder diagnosis usually are given the recommendation to take some form of counseling, or talk therapy. Some may balk at the notion that talking to a therapist can effect their disease. The truth is that these therapies have been shown to have a positive effect on those with bipolar disorder diagnosis.

There are other actions a person with a bipolar disorder diagnosis can take to help lessen their illness. These include the ways a person takes care of him or herself in day to day life. It may seem obvious that a person should eat and sleep in reasonable amounts and times, or do an adequate but reasonable amount of exercise. A person with a bipolar disorder diagnosis will probably find that these common acts do not come naturally. However, with some conscious effort they can begin to see some difference.

A bipolar disorder diagnosis can certainly seem to complicate one’s life. It can lead one to take medications, submit him or herself to talk therapy, and take the time and energy to regulate his or her own personal habits. On the other hand, all these concessions to the disease can help a person to live a much calmer and more fulfilling life than that person would had he or she never gotten their bipolar disorder diagnosis. In other words, it doesn’t have to be the end of the world.

What Are the Causes of Bipolar Disorder?

Bipolar disorder is a difficult illness to manage and to treat. Many who have it may ask themselves, “Why me? What caused all this?” There are great disagreements as to the causes of bipolar disorder. They all tend to go back to the old nature/nurture controversy. In other words, does a thing happen to a person because of who he or she is, or because of the environment he or she grew up in?

The nature side of bipolar disorder causes has always been seen in family histories. This, however, can be misleading. Families often pass behaviors on from one generation to the next, regardless of whether family members are natural relatives or adopted ones.

The scientific concept of correlation without causation may account for shared histories of bipolar disorder in biologically unrelated siblings. This concept is easy to grasp. For example, a man could state that all summer, every time he got a sunburn he ate fish. So, did the sunburn cause the man to eat fish? No, but the act of fishing both caused the man’s skin to burn and allowed him to catch a fish, which he then ate. In a similar way, bipolar disorder can occur in families without anything in one family member’s bipolar disorder causing the bipolar disorder of another.

Also, for whatever reason, people with bipolar disorder are often drawn to each other. In this case it is unclear whether the families formed come together because of their shared genetically similar predisposition towards bipolar disorder, or whether some members of the families are genetically more prone to bipolar disorder but the illness of some other members of the family becomes exaggerated more than it would in another environment.

Research into the genetic causes of bipolar disorder is often done using twin studies. It is assumed that twins will have environments that are as close as is possible. Identical twins are used to show the effects of genetics, since they will share the same genetic materials. Fraternal twins are used as a control group. While these twins share nearly identical environments with their twins, the fraternal twins have less genetic material in common.

It has been shown through these twin studies, and other studies where identical twins are compared to adopted siblings, that there does seem to be a genetic basis for bipolar disorder. Only one percent of the population has bipolar disorder. Fraternal twins, who share some genetic information, are 20 percent more likely to have the disease if one has it. The percentage for identical twins is even higher, at around 60 to 80 percent chance of one having it if the other does.

Environmental causes of bipolar disorder are more difficult to assess. Bipolar disorder has been proven to have a chemical basis in the brain, but the chemical reactions can be caused by any number of factors. A history of losses early in life can be a contributing factor, as can any major source of stress. Physical illnesses such as cancer and others can lead to a depressive state, which is then often followed by mania.

Neither genetics nor environment can fully explain the causes of bipolar disorder. Research is constantly being undertaken in both areas. In the meantime, the nature/nurture controversy is just beginning to heat up.

Borderline Personality Disorder VS Bipolar

Borderline personality disorder and bipolar are often mistaken as being the same thing. They are also often misdiagnosed, one for the other. This is because the symptoms for both illnesses are startlingly similar.

Borderline personality disorder is actually less common and less known than bipolar. Borderline personality disorder accounts for only about twenty percent of hospitalizations for mental illness each year, while bipolar accounts for about fifty percent of hospitalizations. Borderline personality disorder is most common in young women, whereas bipolar is equally common in both men and women, as well as all age groups.

Borderline personality disorder and bipolar patients both experience mood swings that may involve violent outbursts, depression, or anxiety. However, while bipolar patients typically cycle through these moods over a period of weeks or months, borderline personality disorder patients may have bursts of these moods lasting only a few hours or a day.

Borderline personality disorder patients also undergo periods of having no idea who they are in terms of personality, likes, dislikes, and preferences. They may change long term goals frequently, and have trouble sticking to any one activity. Acting with impulsiveness, going on major unaffordable shopping sprees, excessive eating, or engaging in risky sexual relationships can also be experienced. These are also symptoms of mania in bipolar patients.

Borderline personality disorder patients may also undergo periods of worthlessness, feeling mistreated or misunderstood, and emptiness. These symptoms coincide with symptoms of depression in bipolar patients.

Another symptom of borderline personality disorder involves how they deal with relationships. Relationships are often viewed in extremes. Either the patient is totally in love or hates with a passion. A patient may be completely in love one minute, then hate someone totally due to a small conflict or situation. Fears of abandonment often lead to suicide threats, rejection, and depression in the patient. These relationship issues can also be found in bipolar patients.

Treatments of borderline personality disorder and bipolar are also similar. A combination of therapy and medication is typically preferred by the psychiatrist. Cognitive behavioral therapy, while successfully implemented with bipolar patients, was originally developed for use with borderline personality disorder. Various medications can also be prescribed for either mental illness with successful results.

Like bipolar disorder, little is known about the actual causes of borderline personality disorder. There is a lot of controversy about genetics versus environment in this area. However, it appears through research that, while bipolar is definitely hereditary and biological in nature, borderline personality disorder is more likely to be a result of environment and situational stimuli.

As you can see, many similarities exist between bipolar and borderline personality disorder. It can often be quite difficult to distinguish one illness from the other, even for doctors and psychologists. If you suffer any of the symptoms discussed here, it is important to obtain the assistance and diagnosis of a licensed professional for appropriate diagnosis and treatment of your symptoms. You should never attempt self diagnosis and treatment for symptoms such as those associated with bipolar and borderline personality disorder without the help of a psychiatrist or psychologist. Doing so may cause your symptoms to worsen, and make treatment less successful in the future.

About Bipolar Affective Disorder

Bipolar affective disorder, also known as bipolar disorder or manic depression, is a mental illness in which the patient has mood swings or mood cycling. The mood cycles between depression, mania, and normal behaviors. Depression episodes are typically accompanied by extreme sadness and feelings of hopelessness or worthlessness, decreased energy, and sleeping too much. Manic episodes are typically accompanied by extreme happiness, inability to sleep, increased energy, racing thoughts, and distractibility. Mixed episodes, in which the patient shows symptoms of both mania and depression at the same time, can also occur.

Bipolar affective disorder is caused by a combination of neurological, biological, emotional, and environmental factors. The true causes of bipolar affective disorder are not fully understood. However, researchers and doctors are continually making advances in this area.

There are two types of bipolar affective disorder. The first type involves an almost constant state of minor mania, with alternating periods of extreme mania and depression. The second type of bipolar affective disorder involves an almost constant state of depression, alternating with small, minor bouts of mania.

Before bipolar affective disorder was fully understood, people with the first type of the illness were often misdiagnosed as schizophrenic. This is due to the fact that many with type one bipolar affective disorder have tendencies to lose touch with reality, have hallucinations, or have delusions during more severe manic phases.

The second type of bipolar affective disorder is often misdiagnosed as clinical depression. This is because the patient is most often depressed, and does not complain about being happy during their manic episodes. The diagnoses is usually corrected after medication treatment has begun for depression. Anti-depressants used with bipolar patients tend to throw the patient into a manic phase. If this happens, the doctor will immediately realize their error and switch the patient to a mood stabilizer.

There are many treatment options for bipolar affective disorder. The most common treatment for bipolar affective disorder is a combination of medication and therapy, or counseling. Medication options include mood stabilizers, anti-depressants, and anti-psychotics. Therapy options include traditional counseling methods, cognitive behavioral therapy, emotive behavioral therapy, and rational behavioral therapy. CBT, EBT, and RBT are fairly new forms of bipolar affective disorder therapy treatments, that have been found to be extremely successful. Patients who are not candidates for medication can often have successful results with CBT, EBT, or RBT therapy alone.

While bipolar affective disorder is not a new illness, there is still very little known about the subject. As doctors and researchers learn more about the brain and how it functions, the more likely a cure for bipolar affective disorder will be found. In the meantime, people who feel that they may show symptoms of bipolar affective disorder should contact a mental health professional for diagnosis and treatment options. Family or friends who notice these symptoms in others should also seek to help that person find help for their mental illness. Bipolar affective disorder does not have to control your life, if you are willing to undergo treatment to control it.