According to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), (n.d.), bipolar disorder is a disorder of the brain that causes wide and unusual shifts in activity levels, mood, energy, and can affect the ability to carry out daily activities. These shifts can eventually cause damage to relationships, work, and school performances. This disorder was once known as manic –depression (Halter, 2014) and affects approximately 5.7 million adults in the United States (NIMH, n.d.). With the high amount of individuals struggling with this disorder it is important to have correct information available to the public. Documentaries and books written about mental illness have been shining a light on the issues at hand. Specifically a documentary made in 2012, …show more content…
She tried to commit suicide when she was younger and no one knew. As an adult, she got to that dark place of wanting to end her life again. She went to a free clinic in Hollywood that diagnosed her with bipolar disorder within five minutes of meeting her (Klein & Bush, 2012). After admitting that she was worried that she might commit suicide, the staff told her it would be three months before there would be an opening on the inpatient unit. Luckily, she found help sooner at another facility. The documentary goes on to follow her throughout her up and downs and other struggles with her disorder. There is one scene in particular that spoke volumes. It was during a depressed state where she had just broken up with her boyfriend. She looked like a completely different person. Sad, dejected, and depressed. Even her facial coloring was different from her robust, full of life look in earlier scenes (Klein & Bush, …show more content…
It did not explain about the different classifications of the disorder (Klien & Blush, 2012). This is an important piece considering there are varying degrees of mania and depression. This lack of information can be important when dealing with people with bipolar disorder. The difference between bipolar I and cyclothymic disorder is significant. If a person has not been exposed to this disorder and use the documentary as their only source of information, they could have a skewed view. They may assume everyone with bipolar is going to be extremely euphoric and have all the qualities demonstrated in the film. Alternatively, not everyone with bipolar will struggle with severe depression as it was shown in the
I have chosen to do a paper on Bipolar Disorder. Bipolar is a disorder in when a person’s mood inappropriately alternates between feelings of mania and depression. A bipolar mania is a mental illness classified by psychiatry as a mood disorder. Also individuals with bipolar disorder experience episodes of an elevated or agitated mood known as mania or hypomania, depending on the severity alternating with episodes of depression.
More than 57 million people in the United States suffer from some type of mental disorder. Mental illnesses can turn a person’s world upside down. These medical conditions can disrupt every aspect of a person and their family’s lives. Mental disorders do not discriminate; age, sex, or color does not matter when it comes to mental illness. Many people live with different types of mental health problems. These problems can be anxieties, drug or alcohol addiction, obsessive compulsive disorder, and personality and mood disorders. People can suffer from one or more of these conditions. There are treatment options available but unfortunately treatable mental illness is being left untreated. Many people feel ashamed or just don’t realize the help available to them. In the past several decades there have been substantial changes in the care for those with mental disorders but even with all the technology, science and a better understanding of what mental illness is, improvement of the lives of those with a mental illness still falls short. One disorder seems to be making its way to the front of the line of all the different disorders out there. Bipolar disorder. Statistics are saying by 2020 bipolar disorder will be the number two health ailment, right behind heart decease (Reilly 224). We can teach society about this disorder and educate people on the see-saw of emotions tied to bipolar and the treatment that is available to them to help ease some of the weight on bipolar patients and their loved ones. There is hope!
Bipolar Disorder (Formerly known as Manic Depression) is a mental illness linked to alterations in moods such as mood swings, mania, and depression. There is more than one type, Bipolar I and Bipolar II, and the subcategories are divided by the severity of the symptoms seen, such as cyclothymic disorder, seasonal mood changes, rapid cycling disorder and psychosis. Age of onset usually occurs between 15-30 years old with an average onset of 25 years old but it can affect all ages. (Harvard Medical School; Massachusetts General Hospital , 2013) Bipolar disorder affects more than two million people in the United States every year. (Gardner, 2011)
Bipolar disorder is a lifelong mood disorder characterized by periods of mania, depression, or a mixed manic-depressive state. The condition can seriously affect a person’s reasoning, understanding, awareness, and behavior. Acco...
Bipolar Disorder, an illness in the brain where it controls someone or something to have mood swings, depression, and thoughts on others and other things. Bipolar Disorder is the common name for Borderline Personality Disorder, it can be distressing, not only for the person with the disorder, but for the people around them. Persons with Bipolar Disorder have a difficult time controlling their emotions and many times are in a state of upheaval. Childhood experiences or a brain dysfunction are potential reasons why. Bipolar Disorder can be changed or helped by medication, therapy, and counseling. Bipolar is not an illness that can stand alone it is changed by other variables. Bipolar Disorder, is something not to be mess with. In (MANNING, JS.
Bipolar disorder, also known as manic depression, is a psychopathology that affects approximately 1% of the population. (1) Unlike unipolar disorder, also known as major affective disorder or depression, bipolar disorder is characterized by vacillating between periods of elation (either mania or hypomania) and depression. (1, 2) Bipolar disorder is also not an illness that remedies itself over time; people affected with manic depression are manic-depressives for their entire lives. (2, 3) For this reason, researchers have been struggling to, first, more quickly diagnose the onset of bipolar disorder in a patient and, second, to more effectively treat it. (4) As more and more studies have been performed on this disease, the peculiar occurrence between extreme creativity and manic depression have been uncovered, leaving scientists to deal with yet another puzzling aspect of the psychopathology. (5)
The severe mood fluctuations of bipolar or manic-depressive disorders have been around since the 16-century and affect little more than 2% of the population in both sexes, all races, and all parts of the world (Harmon 3). Researchers think that the cause is genetic, but it is still unknown. The one fact of which we are painfully aware of is that bipolar disorder severely undermines its victims ability to obtain and maintain social and occupational success. Because the symptoms of bipolar disorder are so debilitation, it is crucial that we search for possible treatments and cures.
Bipolar Disorder (BD) affects about 2 million people in the United States in any given year. This troubling mental illness can disrupt a person’s daily life and often leads to thoughts of suicide or death. People who get inappropriately diagnosed with BD often get treated with medication that is unnecessary and potentially harmful. BD has become one of the most over diagnosed mental disorders, this due to the overlapping features between BP and other personality disorders. The creation of a universal assessment technique and reeducating the public and professionals would reduce the over-diagnosis problem.
Bipolar Disorder can be classified by the occurrence of manic episodes followed by hypomanic or major depressive episodes. A manic episode is a distinct period of abnormally and persistently elevated, extensive, or irritable mood and abnormally and persistently increased goal-directed activity or energy, lasting at least 1 week and present most of the day, nearly every day. During the specific period of mood disturbance and increased energy or activity, many symptoms are present. Some examples of these symptoms can include: -Inflated self-esteem or grandiosity, decreased need for sleep, and are more talkative than usual (“Bipolar and Related Disorders, “n.d.). There is a 10- 15% risk of completed suicide associated with Bipolar Disorder (“Bipolar Depression”, 2)
The book and documentary talked about the biological cause of bipolar disorder. The brain structure is different in those with bipolar disorder than those without it. They both touched on how there is a question about doctors over diagnosing bipolar disorder in children. They also both talked about how people with bipolar disorder are given many medications. Once they are given medication, those same medications give a person side effects that require them to take more medication. This was referred to as domino effect. Also, many of the drugs given to these children are not tested or approved for children. This treatment was also discussed in the book, as well as psychotherapy (Comer
Crowe, M. (2011). Feeling out of control: A qualitative analysis of the impact of bipolar
Bipolar disorder is the condition in which one’s mood switches from periods of extreme highs known as manias to periods of extreme lows known as depression. The name bipolar comes from the root words bi (meaning two) and polar (meaning opposite) (Peacock, 2000). Though often bipolar disorder is developed in a person’s late teens to early adulthood; bipolar disorder’s early symptoms can sometimes be found in young children or may develop later on in life (National Institutes of, 2008). Bipolar disorder has been found to affect both men and women equally. Currently the exact cause of bipolar disorder is not yet known, however it has been found to occur most often in the relatives of people diagnosed with bipolar disorder (National Center for, 2010).
The film, Of Two Minds, is based on real life accounts of individuals living with bipolar disorder. Before watching this film, I had an idea of what bipolar disorder is , but after viewing this film I was completely mistaken. Previously, I thought being bipolar was going from a “normal” mood to an angry or sad mood in a matter of seconds and could be simply fixed by taking medicine. But my previous thoughts were completely wrong and bipolar disorder is very serious and complicated. I didn’t know the severity of this disease and I think a lot of the general public is uneducated about bipolar disorder as well as mental illness. Terri Cheney describes having bipolar disorder as, “Take the best day you ever had and multiply it by a million, it 's like a flu but one hundred times worse. It 's having flu in your mind."
Bipolar disorder is a lifelong condition that can affect how you feel and how you act. It is a mood disorder caused by chemical imbalances in the brain that can result in extreme mood swings, from manic highs to depressive lows. Also known as manic-depressive disorders, bipolar disorder is categorized and determined as “a psychological state in which a person experiences a mood disorder causing radical alterations in their moods”. Elevated levels of either manic or depression are very common with a person affected by a bipolar disorder.
Bipolar disorder is an overwhelming mental illness that can affect one’s life drastically. Bipolar is a disorder that is characterized by recurring episode of mania and depression. Most people who suffer from bipolar disorder are often misdiagnosed, and undergo ineffective treatments, which may hinder recovery and lead to the progression of the illness. In the movie “Mr. Jones”, (1993) the main character experiences broad symptoms of bipolar disorder that lead to an improper diagnosis. The article chosen to support this paper Emotional Reactivity in Bipolar Depressed Patients ( P. Stratta, D. Tempesta, R. L. Bonanni, S. de Cataldo, and A. Rossi Journal of Clinical Psychology 2014), broadly debates that bipolar disorder has