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.

Deep transcranial magnetic stimulation is a method of altering the functioning of the brain in a non-invasive manner. It can selectively stimulate nearly any brain region with a relatively high precision. It has very recently been approved to help treat the symptoms of major depression, but now scientists are going to test it to improve social functioning among people who have autistic disorders.

Those who have autistic disorders usually have a lot of difficulty in reading other people. They are not able to decipher non-verbal clues, like facial expressions especially well. People’s faces are more like everyday objects to them and they are unable to understand more nuanced types of expressions.

The doctors are going to use transcranial magnetic stimulation to activate a specific region of the brain. This brain area is named the medial prefrontal cortex and it is important for social functioning. The medial prefrontal cortex is located right behind your face and has been implicated in theory of the mind deficits.

The medial prefrontal cortex may also be involved with the ability to experience empathy for other people. Those who have William’s syndrome, for instance, often have increased activity in this brain area. They also have a tendency of being more empathetic and social towards other people.

Many people who have asperger’s or other autistic symptoms may often have a lot of trouble describing their own emotional states. Alexithymia is a term that describes a person’s inability to understand or recognize their own emotions or feelings. So deep transcranial magnetic brain stimulation to activate this region has the potential to reduce some of those symptoms and increase the number of emotions that a person is able to feel.

The medial prefrontal brain area could also be targeted to improve specific schizophrenic symptoms. Those people with schizophrenic symptoms often have both positive symptoms such as hearing unreal voices and negative symptoms such as apathy and emotional blunting. The negative symptoms overlap with many autistic symptoms and so they may also be improved by stimulating this brain region.

Changing activity in the medial prefrontal cortex may be able to improve anhedonia, the inability to experience any pleasure whatsoever. The medial prefrontal cortex can be rewarding if activity there is adjusted. Certain drugs and electricity have the capacity to induce pleasure in this area.

In the future, disorders on the autistic spectrum may be treated with this kind of brain manipulation technique. It is far too soon to tell for sure whether this brain manipulation mechanism will have the desired effect. However, the final outcome of the clinical trial should certainly be interesting.

The definition of Bipolar disorder or bipolar disease is that of a person that has one or more episodes of abnormally manic or elevated moods. It is a mood disorder suffered by numerous people. It is followed by symptoms and depressive episodes. Bipolar disease also causes a person to experience mood swings quickly. Mixed episodes are where they experience both extremes at once and this is not uncommon.

Bipolar Disorder Types

There are several different bipolar disease types. First of all, and most commonly, a person will have mood swings that cause them to experience very high moods - or manic episodes. During these phases of their bipolar disease, they will feel as if they can do anything, and they will often rush from one thing to another, in extremely happy frames of mind. They make rash decisions while in these states, and often do things that they would not normally do while they are manic.

In the second of the bipolar disease types, the person experiences these manic episodes, but also experiences periods of depression that are intermingled with them. Most of the time, people with this bipolar disease type will find that they are moving between episodes of extreme happiness and extreme depression quite often.

A Mixed Episode

The third is known as a mixed episode. They will find that they are experiencing both the manic and depressive states at the same time. It will cause them to feel quite agitated and confused. They will be torn between being manic and happy and still showing signs of depression.

Problems with Bipolar Disorder

A disrupted life is the biggest problem and symptom for anyone with bipolar. It can be quite difficult for them to make and keep relationships, they find themselves alternating between excessive sleeping and not being able to get enough sleep. They are simply not able to exist in the same world as everyone else.

Also, many relationships are strained when a person has bipolar disease. Because of the abrupt and swift changes in mood, a person with bipolar is often drawn to people who are at either end of the spectrum when it comes to moods of their own. They are often hard to deal with, irrational and upsetting to those around them. This, in turn, causes people to pull away from them, which end up causing more bouts of depression.

Treatment

Although it is often something that runs in families, it can be treated with the proper types of drug therapies. Because bipolar disease is caused by inconsistencies in brain function, correcting the function of the brain is the best way to begin dealing with bipolar disease, and this can be done through medication.

Depression isn′t simple. Depression can linger and grow for months or even years before being detected . It’s known that some 15 million people in America will be impacted by some type of depression each year. Unfortunately fewer than 1/3 of these people will look for help.

Those with the disease don′t even know it in many cases. Life is full of stress on a daily basis. The road blocks in life have become more severe. Many families are surviving week to week. The recent economic crises has created even more pressure to obtain and hold a job. Stress can give birth to depression.

Countless types of depression exist. Many of the labels are similar in meaning. These include medical depression, clinical depression and manic depression. Late stages of the disease are called severe depression.

Depression is brought on by many associating factors. There are those that believe it is biological, that chemical imbalances in the brain lead us to depression. Depression is also passed along in the genes. Those with family histories of depression are at risk.

Different types of depression are given birth by other similar factors. Depression is often the result of substance abuse. Alcohol or drugs both show links to depression. The death of a family member can increase the chance for depression.

Mental depression has taken a bad rap down through history. Before being classified as a disease it was thought to be a defect in character. The end result was treatment that was not appropriate or effective. Negative effects persist through all the stages of depression. Therefore treatment requires early detection.

When it has become severe depression treatment is needed ASAP. At this stage suicide is often the result. The calls for assistance weren′t answered and now the chance to solve the problem is fading. Treatment is typically ‘talk therapy′ and anti-depressants. Also available are support groups that can help. Natural herbs have also been found to work.

There are options available to those who suffer from all types of depression. If you or someone you love are experiencing symptoms of lingering depression please consult a medical professional for diagnosis and treatment.

Even though it may be a serious matter, bipolar disorder is treatable. It is part of a growing list of mental disorders that have become quite common these days. It affects a persons vocational and social development. Also due to the serious psychological symptoms, the disorder can cause a change in a persons behavior. There is in excess of 2 million people in the US alone living with bipolar disorder. Bipolar is not only confined to adults today but also to children. It maybe common in late adolescence and early adulthood but it is not uncommon in children.

How common is Bipolar in Children?

Though the diagnosis of bipolar in children is considered controversial and rare, according to studies it is estimated that 0.3% to 0.5% of children under the age of ten are affected with bipolar. However, some argue this finding. There has been an increase of over 40-fold from the year 1994 to the year 2003 and it still continues to rise. Other recent studies also suggest that bipolar can strike as early as the age of seven years old .A staggering number compared to previous years.

Bipolar in Young People

The peak years for bipolar is during late adolescence and early adulthood. When people experience bipolar during this time of their lives, it can severely disrupt them because this is usually during the critical stage of their lives. This is the period where the development of vocational and social aspects of a young adults life is most important. About 2.6 percent of people who age 18 years and older suffer from bipolar illness in any given year.

There is a difference in the symptoms of bipolar in adults compared to children. This presents a diagnostic challenge to the professionals in the field of mental health. Unlike the predictable patterns and nature of bipolar symptoms, bipolar disorder children most often exhibit explosive outbursts and irritable moods. They also experience the cycles of manic-depression far more rapidly compared to adult cases.

Bipolar in children is most of the time overlooked because some of the symptoms are close to those of mental disorders such as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder or ADHD. It has even been recorded that bipolar can even co-exist with ADHD.

In adults, bipolar is often not recognized as an illness because it can mask the symptoms of postpartum psychosis, postpartum depression, premenstrual dysphoric disorder, and substance abuse. Bipolar must be carefully managed throughout the life of the person since it is a long-term disorder.

It is important to have some knowledge of bipolar disorder because of the possible cases that may cause bipolar to be overlooked. This is really serious because bipolar has even lead many to committing suicide. Bipolar disorder has a good prognosis and can easily be treated if done early and with proper management.