Bipolar Disorder

3 Pages 859 Words

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What is mental illness? Mental illnesses are disorders of thought, mood and behavior that cause distress and reduce a person's ability to function psychologically, socially, occupationally and interpersonally. On mental illness that hits close to home due to a family member having it is bipolar disorder.
Bipolar disorder is a disorder of moods. It is characterized by an alternating pattern of emotional highs (mania) and lows (depression). The intensity of the signs and symptoms varies. Bipolar disorder can range from a mild to a severe condition. For many, the manic signs and symptoms include feelings of euphoria, extreme optimism and inflated self-esteem, rapid speech and racing thoughts, agitation and increased physical activity, poor judgment and recklessness, difficulty sleeping and a tendency to be easily distracted along with extreme irritability. The symptoms and signs that come with the depression stage are almost the exact opposite. They include Persistent feelings of sadness, anxiety, guilt or hopelessness, disturbances in sleep and appetite, fatigue and loss of interest in your daily activities, difficulty in concentrating and recurring thoughts of suicide.
Doctors and researchers don't know exactly what causes bipolar disorder. But a variety of biologic, genetic and environmental factors seem to be involved in causing and triggering episodes of the illness. Evidence indicates that differences in the chemical messengers between nerve cells in the brain (neurotransmitters) occur in people who have bipolar disorder. In many cases people with bipolar disorder may have a genetic disposition for the disorder. (National DMDA) Bipolar disorder tends to run in families. More than two-thirds of people with the illness have at least one close relative who has experienced either bipolar disorder or major depression. Researchers are attempting to
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identify genes that may make people susceptible to bipolar ...