Bipolar disorder

BIPOLAR AFFECTIVE DISORDER
First of all I chose this topic because it seems important to inform people about the reality of this mental disorder.
Since antiquity, although it was a relationship between episodes of mania and melancholy, were regarded as different diseases, independent, alternate, and complications one of one another. The earliest written accounts of depression were recorded inancient texts of the Mesopotamian era dating from the second millennium B.C. Depression also appears in the writings of medical luminaries from the ancient Greek and Roman civilizations, such as Hippocrates and Galen.
According to the article History of bipolar disease by J.C. Tolentino, eHow Contributing Writer, the Chinese encyclopedic Gao Lian (c. 1583) describes the condition in his book Eighttreatises on the art of living (遵 生 八 笺, Ts'un-sheng pa-chien). (http://www.ehow.com/about_5270938_history-bipolar-disease.html, earliest descriptions)
It is important that people know more information about bipolar disorder and learn to know how to identify it and how to help people who suffer from this.
Everyone has ups and downs of mood; happiness, sadness, and anger are normal emotions andan essential part of daily life. In contrast Bipolar disorder or bipolar affective disorder is a long progress depressive disorder in which depressive episodes are interspersed by an elevated mood (excessive euphoria), hyperactivity or irritability. The phases of excitement, unbridled joy or irritability and rudeness, alternate with episodes in which the person suffer from intense depression, lowmood, inability to enjoy, low energy, negative thoughts and, in severe cases, suicidal thoughts.
Bipolar affective disorder is an organic disorder (not psychological) that depends on biological changes in the brain. It is a chronic disorder, a person who has had an episode of mania or hypomania, although it has been only one must be careful all his life to prevent the recurrence of theseepisodes. Bipolar disorder requires biological treatment with drugs that regulate the functioning of brain neurotransmitters. The treatment must be chronic, long time or a lifetime in those cases with constant tendency to relapse.
The bipolar disorder usually begins in adolescence or early adulthood, although it can sometimes start in early childhood or as late as 40 or 50 years. When someone with morethan 50 years have a manic episode for the first time, it is likely that the cause is a problem that mimics bipolar disorder, for example: a neurological disease or the effects of drugs, alcohol, or some prescription drugs.
Based on the article of mood disorders society of Canada is important to diagnose and treat bipolar disorder as soon as possible. On average, people with bipolar disorder see 3to 4 doctors and spend more than eight years before receiving a correct diagnosis. (http://www.mooddisorderscanada.ca/index.php, what is bipolar disorder 7)
Previous diagnosis, proper treatment and medications to find due can help people avoid the following:
* Suicide. The risk is higher in the early years of the disease.
* The abuse of alcohol / substances. Over 50% of those withbipolar disorder abuse alcohol or drugs for the disease.
* Marital problems and work. Prompt treatment improves the prospects for a stable marriage and productive work.
A person misdiagnosed with depression only, instead of bipolar disorder may incorrectly receive antidepressants without anti-manic medication. These can cause manic episodes and have the general course of the disease worse.
Thediagnosis is made by clinical criteria. This means that it must check if the person has the following symptoms:
Depressive episodes:
In the depressive phase the person has feelings of hopelessness and pessimism, sad mood, anxious or "empty" in a persistent manner, feelings of guilt, worthlessness and helplessness, loss of interest or pleasure in hobbies and activities once enjoyed, including...