BEAUTY KLINIC

Millions of people all over the world are affected by bipolar disorder. It is assumed that out of these millions, majority of them are adults. On the other hand, adolescents hold a significant percentage of those struggling with bipolar disorder and this adds a massive complexity to their lives. This is due to the fact that not only do they have to deal with the common struggles that every teenager goes through but they also have to contend with the serious symptoms of bipolar disease and adolescent bipolar disorder.

Outlining Bipolar Disorder

Severe mood swings are the usual reference given when mentioning bipolar disorder which was originally named manic-depressive disorder. The mood swings usually range from an elevated sense of euphoria (mania) to a severe low cycle of the depressive phase. Common knowledge of the euphoria phase is seen as a stage of excitement and minor anxiety whereas the depressive phase is seen as utter sadness or fatigue. In reality, both these phases are extremely serious and are known to affect energy levels, decision-making, cognitive functions, concentration, and other critical capabilities needed to carry out the essential functions of life.

While bipolar disorder is a serious psychiatric condition, it is not untreatable. Often, outpatient prescription therapy and counseling can help alleviate many of the negative effects of bipolar disease. However, this can be a challenge for adults. For adolescents, bipolar disorder brings further complexities.

The Onset of Bipolar Disease and Adolescent Bipolar Disorder

It is a fact that bipolar disorder starts developing in the late teen or early adult years in most people. Although it is rare for bipolar to develop in children and young teens, it is possible and has happened a lot. Early Onset Bipolar Disorder is what it’s called and the mood swings are more frequent because of the lack of emotional development in the adolescent.

How Can a Parent Detect Adolescent Bipolar Disease and Adolescent Bipolar Disorder?

Adolescents share many of the same symptoms that an adult will display. Noticeable symptoms common in both of them include lacking a clear attention span, severe mood swings, lethargy, extreme excitement and talkativeness, and displaying a very depressed or sad mood are all signs of the disorder.

Behavior at school can also be affected by these symptoms. Is your adolescent having trouble making and maintaining friends? Have their grades started to slip? And has he/she been involved in a few disciplinary incidents? These situations could indicate the possible presence of bipolar disorder.

Of course, a parent will not know for sure unless the adolescent is properly diagnosed by a qualified mental health professional. Usually, a board certified psychiatrist would be the most reliable source for a diagnosis. However, it is critical that parents do not make decisions as to whether or not an adolescent had a serious mental disorder. Doing so would only inhibit the youth from receiving the proper treatment.

Getting to Know Which Treatments Work

Combination of medical treatment and therapy is generally what treatment for bipolar involves. Prescribed medications such as anti-depressants, mood stabilizers, and anti-anxiety prescriptions are usually given. The treatment for adolescent bipolar may last for many years and will most likely be carried into adulthood. Regardless of this, the primary concern here is not the duration of the treatment. Patients should rather focus on utilizing their treatment to establish a normal life with the least amount of problems that come from the condition. For both adults and adolescents, this is true.

After the many years I spent under the cloud of impending doom suffering from a severe long episode of major depression I believe they were the worst and the best in my life.

Allow me to explain and please don′t think I am under the influence of something because I am not, never been. Those years were indeed the worst but when I finally started getting and feeling better I came to realize that I came out stronger and more “philosophical” so to speak.

You may wonder “yeah right”. But please believe me, after feeling so bad and desperate for not seeing results according to my wishes (you know, one wants to get better NOW or BY YESTERDAY), I had some time to think about life and its intricacies.

It’s strange how much time I wasted trying to figure out why and why me?, but when I started focusing on what could I do to get better?, things started to change for the good, slowly but changing nevertheless.

Major depressive disorder (also known as clinical depression, major depression, unipolar depression, or unipolar disorder) is a mental disorder characterized by a pervasive low mood, low self-esteem, and loss of interest or pleasure in normally enjoyable activities. Persons dealing with major depression want to do nothing and stay in bed all day.

The term “major depressive disorder” was selected by the American Psychiatric Association for this symptom cluster under mood disorders in the 1980 version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-III) classification, and has become widely used since.

The general term depression is often used to describe the disorder, but as it is also used to describe a depressed mood, more precise terminology is preferred in clinical and research use.

Major depression is a disabling condition which adversely affects a person’s family, work or school life, sleeping and eating habits, and general health. In the United States, approximately 3.4% of people with major depression commit suicide, and up to 60% of all people who commit suicide have depression or another mood disorder.

The diagnosis of major depressive disorder is based on the patient’s self-reported experiences, behavior reported by relatives or friends, and a mental status exam.

There is no laboratory test for major depression, although physicians generally request tests for physical conditions that may cause similar symptoms. The most common time of onset is between the ages of 30 and 40 years, with a later peak between 50 and 60 years. Major depression is reported about twice as frequently in women as in men, although men are at higher risk for suicide.

There is no way to fully understand why things happen the way they do, but when facing life challenges, face them head on and with faith, trust and help from family, friends and health care professionals or alternative practitioners.

I still have a long way ahead of me, I know. But I trust that if I ever face another episode of major depression, chances are I will be more prepared physically and mentally.

The biggest lesson of all, to ask for help. You don′t have to face your depression all by yourself. This mental illness is tough enough to do so. Seek help and support.

Hope and depression. They seem to be opposite but it is possible to have hope that you will overcome depression.

Lets rephrase that, it is imperative that you maintain hope about your future and that you will get better.

I know from experience, I have dealt with depression my entire life. Once thing I found out is that, although is quite difficult and sometimes impossible to have hope or aspirations while you are depressed, it is the only gift you can give yourself. Please don’t despair.

Hope, don’t lose it and don’t allow anybody to take it away from you. Hang on to it as your life saver.

Hope is what saved me and kept me alive. Even during my darkest moments, although excruciating at times, I learned that the hope of getting better and enjoying a full life was the main reason for me to keep living and therefore fighting to get better.

If you are a religious person, pray and keep faith. Spirituality has helped millions of people to overcome difficulties, including illnesses.

Speak to a priest, pastor, spiritual counselor, a doctor or a close friend. The main thing is not to close yourself up to the world. Please allow me to give you an advice here. Withdrawing is a “safe” place when depressed, but in the long run it makes the road to recovery slower and painful. It took me years to get this.

I know, speaking of your problems is not easy, especially if you are a parent, spouse or the main provider in your family. Our culture has created the wrong belief that mental illness is something you can just brush up and move on.

How many times we’ve heard, “you are just depressed, get over”. If everything were as easy as that. But you and I now how painful it is to live with the cloud of depression hanging over our heads.

How blurry everything looks when depressed and how the feelings of hopelessness and helplessness don’t go away no matter how hard we try. This is where hope and faith come in.

Although impossible to comprehend, don’t try to find explanations as to why are you depressed and why is this happening to you. That is a road to nowhere, instead focus your attention and efforts on getting better and overcome this terrible mental illness.

There is a way out of depression and you are not alone. I am here for you because I know what it is to be depressed and how lonely one feels.

Why am I using the word ritual on the title of this page?

I am not using it on the religious context of the word. Rituals imply a personal choice and tend to be followed more than habits.

Habits can break easily, but rituals not so much. Rituals do have a more profound moral and mental connotation and there are not so easily broken. We are more concious when talking about ritual. Habits tend to be unconciuos.

Few years ago I decided to follow a “Depression Help Morning Success Ritual” to gelp me getting started.

With a mental illness such as depression getting up can, usually is, the most excruciating time of the day.

So, if you follow a particular ritual, nothing heavy, can help you get your day started on the right foot.

This is what I do every morning as my ritual:

1.- Get up at 6 am (you know it is recommended to get up and go to bed at the same time, weekends included, to get your brain hormones released on a regular flow).

2.- Drink a half a liter of water. It’s been proven that the body gets dehydrated during the night. So, makes sense to drink water (no, not coffee or tea, plain water).

3.- Go the bathroom (no explanations here).

4.- Floss and brush your teeth (the intention of this is to start your day clean and refresh and what better way than to start with your mouth. We’ll take a shower a bit latter)

5.- Meditation for 5 or 10 minutes (if your preference is for a longer period of time, by all means go for it).

6.- Light exercise such as yoga or pilates for 10 to 15 minutes (the intention here is to pump up your heart rate a bit). The single most important method of emotional renewal is to increase your heart rate. This is very true.

7.- Take a shower or a bath based on your preference.

8.- Get on with your day…..:)

I have been following this Depression Help Ritual for approximately 2 years, and you have no idea how much has helped me, especially on those dreary days of winter.

As you see, this is simple routine that requires very little time and effort and there are some things in it that you must do any way, such as going to the bathroom, brushing your teeth and taking a shower. So, might as well make them part of your Depression Help Daily Ritual.

Of course this is not set in stone, you can make adjustments that fit your life style. Some people like to go to the gym first time in the morning, well go for it.

The intention here is to set up a simple, easy to follow morning ritual that you commit to follow every day with the intention of getting your day started on a solid and stable ground.

With this simple Depression Help Ritual you take care of your body, your mind and your spirit.

According to World Health Organization (WHO), the sixth leading cause of disability in the world is bipolar disease and adolescent bipolar. And the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry has confirmed that a staggering number of 3.4 million children and adolescents may actually be suffering from depression, an early- onset of bipolar disorders, in the United States alone. Bipolar disease which is a mental illness has been discovered to cause a lot of problems both in how people live and their individual health.

Probable Causes of Adolescent Bipolar

When the chemicals in the brain become imbalanced, this causes a disorder called bipolar. Serious physiological and psychological problems happen when the brain chemical imbalance occurs. The rise of two brain chemicals, the neurotransmitters and especially the norepinephine to the danger level cause bipolar disorder. Genetics can also be one cause of bipolar disease. Parents who have bipolar have a higher risk of conveying the sickness to their children. Bipolar is caused not only by genes or multiple genetic combination’s, it can also be caused by the environment the person is living in. The place can be very depressing which than causes the imbalance in brain chemical. Other factors that can cause bipolar illness are emotional stress, the use of drugs, and other illness which may trigger symptoms in bipolar. It is highly likely that children suffering from anxiety disorders will eventually incur bipolar disorder.

Signs and Symptoms

Symptoms and Signs The primary characteristic of bipolar in adolescent is the intense mood swings. There are generally three phases in bipolar mania, depression and manic depression. Common signs and symptoms of mania include; an unusual feeling of high and optimistic OR extremely irritable, grandiose, and unrealistic beliefs about ones abilities or powers, very little sleep, jumping quickly from one idea to the next, easily distractible, unable to concentrate, acts recklessly without thinking about the consequences, hallucinations and delusions (in severe cases). Common symptoms of bipolar depression include feeling sad, hopeless or empty, very irritable, unable to experience pleasure, easily tired or loss of energy, physical and mental sluggishness , change of appetite or weight changes, problems with sleeping, concentration and memory problems. A mixed episode of bipolar disorder features symptoms of both mania or hypomania and depression.This combination of high energy and low mood makes for a particularly high risk of suicide

Available Treatment for Bipolar Disorder in Adolescent

Adolescent bipolar disorder is in fact curable. The key to effectively treating the disease is immediate diagnosis and proper treatment plan. It is crucial for children and teens that are showing signs of changes in personality due to extreme moodiness, manifest symptoms of depression along with eating disorders, severe mood swings and suicidal tendencies to be subjected to a recommended treatment plan fast.

To treat bipolar disorder, patients are put under certain medications and advised to go under therapy. In terms of medication, children may need to take more than one drug depending on the complexity of their bipolar condition. The kind of therapy or psychotherapy designed for children and teens is often called talk therapy were they are coached to manage their symptoms and deal with their disease.

Treating your Child

The early-onset bipolar disorder, the bipolar disorder developed by children, can be more severe than those experienced by older teens and adults. They are more likely to manifest intense mood swings than that observed from adults suffering the disease. The episodes of mood shifts can last for days, weeks, months, years or even in a lifetime. Because of the extreme and often risky behavior elicited by the disease, it is imperative that parents take the proactive role in facing and understanding the nature of early-onset bipolar disorder.