Bipolar disorder, previously known as manic-depressive illness, is a complex psychiatric disorder that involves sudden and dramatic mood swings between mania and depression. An episode may last for hours, days, weeks or months and symptoms may be severe, sometimes resulting in dangerously impulsive or self-destructive behavior and sometimes leading to depression so deep it results in suicide.
Causes of Bipolar Disorder
It is known that individuals with bipolar disorder have physiological changes in their brains. Although precipitating factors have been researched, precise causes for the changes have not been pinpointed. The following genetic and environmental factors appear to play important roles in the development of bipolar disease:
Imbalances in brain chemicals called neurotransmittersHormonal imbalancesHeredity, having a blood relative with a psychiatric disorderEnvironmental stressChildhood abuseTrauma
Imbalances in brain chemicals called neurotransmittersHormonal imbalancesHeredity, having a blood relative with a psychiatric disorderEnvironmental stressChildhood abuseTrauma
Types of Bipolar Disorder
There are three different types of bipolar disorder, characterized by the severity of the disease:
Bipolar IBipolar IICyclothymic disorder or cyclothymiaPatients with bipolar I typically suffer manic or depressive episodes lasting for a week or more. The episodes, though they may be alleviated with medication, are frequently severe enough to require hospitalization. Bipolar II is a less severe variety of the disorder. Patients with bipolar II may have noticeably elevated or depressed moods, though these are less severe, and last for shorter periods, than those of patients with bipolar I. Cyclothymic disorder is a milder form of bipolar disorder characterized by mood swings more extreme than those of the average person, but not disabling.
There are other variations in bipolar disorder in which symptoms may differ in specific ways, such as:
Seasonal changes in moodRapid-cycling bipolar disorderBipolar disorder with psychotic symptomsBipolar disorder in childrenMixed state bipolar disorderHypomania
Bipolar IBipolar IICyclothymic disorder or cyclothymiaPatients with bipolar I typically suffer manic or depressive episodes lasting for a week or more. The episodes, though they may be alleviated with medication, are frequently severe enough to require hospitalization. Bipolar II is a less severe variety of the disorder. Patients with bipolar II may have noticeably elevated or depressed moods, though these are less severe, and last for shorter periods, than those of patients with bipolar I. Cyclothymic disorder is a milder form of bipolar disorder characterized by mood swings more extreme than those of the average person, but not disabling.
There are other variations in bipolar disorder in which symptoms may differ in specific ways, such as:
Seasonal changes in moodRapid-cycling bipolar disorderBipolar disorder with psychotic symptomsBipolar disorder in childrenMixed state bipolar disorderHypomania
Symptoms of Bipolar Disorder
The symptoms of bipolar disorder are extreme versions of the emotional states all individuals experience. In patients with this disorder, however, the emotional states are not only exaggerated, but often seem to have no relation to experienced events. Beyond that, the symptoms start and stop abruptly, and are extreme enough to interfere with normal functioning.