I have chosen to write about Virginia Woolf, a British novelist who wrote A Room of One’s Own, To the Lighthouse and Orlando, to name a few of her pieces of work. Virginia Woolf was my first introduction to feminist type books. I chose Woolf because she is a fantastic writer and one of my favorites as well. Her unique style of writing, which came to be known as stream-of-consciousness, was influenced by the symptoms she experienced through her bipolar disorder. Many people have heard the word "bipolar," but do not realize its full implications. People who know someone with this disorder might understand their irregular behavior as a character flaw, not realizing that people with bipolar mental illness do not have control over their moods. Virginia Woolf’s illness was not understood in her lifetime. She committed suicide in 1941. Several theories exist as to what might lead a person to develop bipolar disorder. In Virginia Woolf's case, many scholars related her illness to childhood sexual abuse by her older stepbrothers, on the basis of Freudian theory (Carmango, 1992). Uebelacker (2006) researches correlations between family functioning and the course of bipolar disorder and finds that stable family relationships would likely make it easier for bipolar family members to manage their symptoms. In Woolf's case, family problems may have played a major role, not in the development of her disease, but in the onsets of her episodes (Carmango, 1992). A person’s environmental forces do not cause bipolar disorder. 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... ... middle of paper ... ...c Depressive Illness. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. Frances, A., & Ross, R. (1996). DSM-IV case studies a clinical guide to differential diagnosis. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press, Inc. Miklowitz, D. G. and Otto, M.W. (2006). New Psychosocial Interventions for Bipolar Disorder: A review of literature and introduction of the systematic treatment enhancement program. Journal of Cognitive Psychotherapy. 20, 214-230. National Institute of Mental Health. (2007) Bipolar Disorder. Bethesda, M.D.: US Department of Health And Human Services. Schleicher, J. (2007). Mental illness and the creative process. Retrieved from http://www.onu.edu/node/26779 Uebelacker, L. A., Miller, I. W., Keitner, G. I., Ryan, C., & Solomon, D. A. (2006). The impact of family treatment on family functioning in Bipolar I disorder. Journal of Family Psychology. 20, 701-704.
"Bipolar Disorder." NCBI. U.S. National Library of Medicine, 31 Jan. 2013. Web. 10 Nov. 2013.
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)
Alloy, L. B., Abramson, L. Y., Urosevic, S., Bender, R. E., & Wagner, C. A. (2009). Longitudinal Predictors of Bipolar Spectrum Disorders: A Behavioral Approach System Perspective. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 16(2), 206-226. doi: 10.1111/j.1468-2850.2009.01160.x
... lost free time, strained relationships with people who may not understand the situation, and physical and mental exhaustion. It can be very hard to cope with a loved one's bipolar symptoms.
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!
Crowe, M. (2011). Feeling out of control: A qualitative analysis of the impact of bipolar
Bipolar disorder is a brain disorder that causes unusual shifts in a person's mood, energy, and ability to function.
Bipolar disorder not only affects the person living with it but the the people closest to them. It can be stressful on the family. It may also be difficult being the parent of a child with bipolar. As a family member or close friend learning to cope with the mood and behavior can be very helpful. Make sure to not take care of the loved one but take care of self too is important to manage bipolar disorder.
Bipolar Disorder is a common psychiatric mood disorder that is defined by recurrent episodes of abnormally elevated mood and depression, changes in energy and, the ability to carry out day to day tasks. (Joel, Jakosson and colleges) “Bipolar Disorder (BD) is a chronic disease with high risk of relapse. This disease also results in a high rate of suicidal mortality.” (Sabrina, Paterniti and Jean-Claude Bisserbe) Many studies show that this disorder is genetic therefore it runs in families, passing down from generation to generation. The closer you’re related to a person with bipolar the more likely you are to have BD.
(2013). Prevalence, chronicity, burden and borders of bipolar disorder. Journal of Affective Disorders, 148, 161-169.
Although genetic factors are considered the most important for the development of bipolar disorder, “episodes that develop after the first one appear to be more heavily influenced by environmental stress, sleep disruption, alcohol and substance abuse, inconsistent drug treatments, and other genetic, biological, or environmental factors” (Milkowitz, 2010, p. 74). Patient M had already suffered two similar episodes of strange behavior and her family history includes mood disorders and states of depression.... ... middle of paper ... ...
Bipolar Disorder is the tendency of manic episodes to alternate with major depressive episodes, like a roller coaster. Barlow, D., Durand, M., Stewart, S., & Lalumière, M., 2014, p. 222. Their moods and relationships are unstable and they usually have a very poor self image, recurrent feelings of emptiness and fear of abandonment. Barlow, D., Durand, M., Stewart, S., & Lalumière, M., 2014, p. 444.
Though published seventy years ago, Virginia Woolf's A Room of One's Own holds no less appeal today than it did then. Modern women writers look to Woolf as a prophet of inspiration. In November of 1929, Woolf wrote to her friend G. Lowes Dickinson that she penned the book because she "wanted to encourage the young women–they seem to get frightfully depressed" (xiv). The irony here, of course, is that Woolf herself eventually grew so depressed and discouraged that she killed herself. The suicide seems symptomatic of Woolf's own feelings of oppression within a patriarchal world where only the words of men, it seemed, were taken seriously. Nevertheless, women writers still look to Woolf as a liberating force and, in particular, at A Room of One's Own as an inspiring and empowering work. Woolf biographer Quentin Bell notes that the text argues:
“Bipolar disorder, also known as manic-depressive illness, is a brain disorder that causes unusual shifts in mood, energy, activity levels, and the ability to carry out day-to-day tasks. Bipolar disorder is not easy to spot when it start...
... Woolf’s experience with mental illness may have led to this distinct style, as she saw writing as a way to express and explore her mental depression. Talk more about style. Mary’s journey begins on her visit to “Oxbridge,” where Woolf is said to give her lecture on “Women and Fiction.” Woolf then provides the reader and Mary with her thesis: a woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction (1).