Bipolar disorder… its causes, symptoms and treatment
Mood swings are a normal occurrence that many people around the world suffer from due to changing living and social conditions. However, at times, mood swings are an indication that an individual may have “bipolar disorder”, especially if his mood fluctuates between mania and severe depression.
Data issued by the American medical organization “Single Care” indicate that 46 million people around the world suffer from “bipolar disorder”, while the reports of the American Institute of Mental Health indicate that regarding 7 million adults in the United States suffer from bipolar disorder annually, what Equivalent to regarding 2.8 percent of the adult population, meaning that approximately 4.4 percent of Americans will suffer from this disorder at some point in their lives.
Professor of Psychiatry, Lina Daaboul, defines bipolar disorder as a type of mental illness that causes unusual changes in a person’s mood, energy, activity levels, and focus. These mood changes can limit a person’s ability to carry out daily tasks.
Daboul told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed: “The main reason for the disease lies in the presence of a defect in the neurotransmitter (dopamine), which is a chemical in the brain, and its deficiency causes an increase in cases of depression in people. There are two types of this disorder, which are bipolar disorder of Type 1 and bipolar disorder of the second type, and type 1 disorder is diagnosed when a person suffers from a manic episode, and people with it suffer from a severe increase in energy, and some also suffer from bouts of depression or hypomania, and the bouts usually last for regarding a week What makes a person irritable, and he can stay awake for long hours, or feel relaxed and energetic, in addition to an increase or speed of speech, and the increase in activity can push him to take on risky adventures.
And she adds, “In the second type of bipolar disorder, the patient experiences major bouts of depression, which are later accompanied by mild manic episodes. People with this type of disorder often seek treatment for depression, given that the manic episodes are mild and controllable.” .
According to the American Institute of Mental Health, a patient with bipolar disorder may suffer from other mental illnesses or disorders, such as anxiety, deficiency or hyperactivity (ADHD), or eating disorders, and sometimes people with manic or depressive episodes suffer from symptoms of psychosis, which They may include hallucinations or delusions, and severe depressive episodes may sometimes lead them to imagine things that are not there.
Looking at a person’s symptoms over the course of the illness, as well as examining their family history, can help a health care provider determine whether the person has bipolar disorder or another disorder. Researchers who have studied the possible causes of bipolar disorder agree that there are many factors that are likely to contribute to a person’s injury, including the structure of the brain and the way it works. Some studies show that the brains of affected people differ from the brains of ordinary people, and genetic factors also play a role. A role in injury, as the family history of patients with mental disorder has an impact, and research shows that people whose parents or siblings suffer from bipolar disorder have a greater chance of being affected.
There is no single treatment for this disorder, as treatment is usually prescribed according to the nature of the disease and its strength. Doctor Lina Daaboul says: “It is necessary to know the type of disorder in order to know how to deal with it, and this requires visiting a specialist to determine what the disorder is and how dangerous it is, then it takes some medical examinations, and then the type of treatment is determined. In general, depression and delirium medications are among the most important The treatments that are prescribed to the patient, especially if the depressive episodes he is experiencing are severe, or he feels hallucinations, or thinks in a negative way, such as thinking regarding suicide, and therefore the use of depression medications is an essential step, followed by delirium medications.
