...Running head: BIPOLAR DISORDER A Look into the Oddities of Bipolar Disorder Jonathan Cushing Park University PS401 Barbara Wright July 28, 2010 Abstract This core assessment with correctly assess all the necessary information needed to complete the analysis of what Bipolar Disorder entails. The topics of discussion throughout this assessment with be what information there is to know about Bipolar Disorder, the symptoms and types of Bipolar Disorders, & effective treatments. By the end of this assessment, one will gain reasonable knowledge on the subject of Bipolar Disorder to be able to have a decent understanding and be able to describe some of the characteristics of Bipolar Disorder. A Look into the Oddities of Bipolar Disorder Bipolar Disorder, also known as Manic Depression, is a very serious and potentially harmful disorder. In a recent case study (Gorenstein, 2002) it was observed that the person that had Bipolar Disorder was conducted some illegal acts, such as being found naked with an underage fifteen year old girl, while he was twenty-four. It’s important to know about all the potential factors about this disorder so that is can correctly be assessed and treated. So what really is Bipolar Disorder? Manic depression, also known as bipolar disorder, is classified as a type of affective disorder or mood disorder that goes beyond the day's ordinary ups and downs, and is a serious medical condition and important health concern in this country. Manic...
Words: 1088 - Pages: 5
...Bipolar Disorder “Bipolar disorder is a condition in which people experience abnormally elevated (manic or hypomanic) and abnormally depressed states for short, or significant periods of time; in a way that interferes with functioning. Bipolar disorder has been estimated to affect more than 5 million Americans—about 3 out of every 100 adults. [2] It affects people without regard to age, race, ethnicity, gender, education or occupation. Not everyone's symptoms are the same and there is no blood test to confirm the disorder. Scientists believe that bipolar disorder may be caused when chemicals in the brain are out of balance. Bipolar disorder can look like depression. Distinguishing the illness is tricky, even for mental health professionals. What makes bipolar disorder different is that in addition to depression, a person also experiences the "highs" of a manic phase. Signs and symptoms of the depressive phase of bipolar disorder include persistent feelings of sadness, anxiety, guilt, anger, isolation, or hopelessness; disturbances in sleep and appetite; fatigue and loss of interest in usually enjoyed activities; problems concentrating; loneliness, self-loathing, apathy or indifference; depersonalization; loss of interest in sexual activity; shyness or social anxiety; irritability, chronic pain (with or without a known cause); lack of motivation; and morbid suicidal ideation.[3] In severe cases, the individual may become psychotic, a condition also known as severe bipolar depression...
Words: 1582 - Pages: 7
...After reviewing the case study you can arrive at the conclusion that the subject, Debbie, is displaying increasing signs of schizophrenia, the mania side of bi-polar disorder, and early signs of Munchhausen syndrome. The best way to treat her conditions is through antipsychotic drugs. Her father believes that she is showing signs of holding full conversations with characters from the posters hanging in her room that she received from her friend. As of recently, Debbie has been isolating herself, from the rest of the world, with increasing frequency. She appears to be struggling with conversations, as well as an increased fascination of the patterns in the carpeting in bedroom. From this, it is apparent that Debbie is experiencing hallucinations and impaired cognitive abilities, despite her IQ level. Our textbook would classify her as suffering from schizophrenia. According to Debbie’s case study she loves to be the “life of the party”; she constantly wins the friends that she has back, after embarrassing them, with expensive gifts and extravagant dinners and parties. She always is reminding her friends to be as happy as she is. Debbie shows signs of excessive energy, and is constantly spending money, making impulsive decisions; according to the textbook these are classic signs of mania, which is part of bi-polar disorder. However, it is not known if she experiences the depression that coincides with this diagnosis. Lately, Debbie has been complaining of multiple physical ailments...
Words: 408 - Pages: 2
...The Effects of Bi-polar Disorder on Marriage and Family life Many Families are faced with the challenge of coming to terms with a family member who suffers from Bi-polar disorder. How does this often debilitating condition affect the people who become the care-givers and support system to those who are suffering? Caring for someone with bi-polar disorder can place heavy burdens on a marriage and the family, particularly if the families are not equipped with the knowledge and skills needed to cope with mental illness. It can be extremely exhausting, especially for families of young children. Bipolar suffers are faced with varying mental disorders that often negatively affect themselves and their families. According to an article by the Mood Disorders Association of British Columbia titled Bipolar Disorder: effects on the family. Bipolar disorder is a brain disorder characterized by extreme swings in moods. It is a puzzling illness that not only affects the individual but their family and friends as well. Often when bipolar disorder is not properly controlled with medical treatment and therapy, the individual may suffer from severe mood swings, bouts of mania, and periods of extreme depression. These symptoms sometimes manifest themselves in various ways. Living with a person who has bipolar disorder requires an extreme amount of patience while attempting to cope with the effects that these disruptions may have on the family life. Many families will have to deal...
Words: 1279 - Pages: 6
...All individuals in our society are not the same whether it be our race, culture, ethnicity or religion. However besides our backgrounds, there’s something eternally deeper that makes individuals different, and that is Mental Illness. Social Work in Mental Illness is a serious issue throughout the United States. Many suffer from a diagnosable mental disorder and face consequences in families, individuals, and society. The world’s main issue is that many people are not seeking treatment for it. There are several resources and services for individuals with mental illness such as the development of new medications, treatments, and community-based services. Back in the day, people diagnosed biologically with a mental illness didn’t have sufficient...
Words: 1611 - Pages: 7
...comply with directions. The majority of the inmates received medication many of which would never take these medicines when released. A great majority of these meds were for mental illness. The majority of those who received such medication were quite functional, and compliant to jail directives. These inmates were choosing to follow directives, which had nothing to do with the medication. I’ve seen these men follow jail directives only when it was beneficial to them personally. As a great deal of privileges are based on good behavior this prompts inmates to behave. However, if the inmate did not get what he wanted he would often threaten suicide. At times when an inmate would get into a fight with a deputy they would blame it on bi-polar disorder but had no incidents for...
Words: 713 - Pages: 3
...Abnormal Psychology and Therapy Learning Team B PSY/300 November 17, 2011 Wanda Rush Abnormal Psychology and Therapy Society itself can play a role on an individual and have an effect on that person in many ways. Laws can be passed that can create severe punishments for antisocial behaviors which can have a strong desire for ethics and morals which comes through religious institutions. The primary reason why society can control behavior of some citizens is the natural need for growth and maturity. In this paper we will examine two mental disorders and two mental illnesses along with the similarities and differences from the perspective of psychology and school of thought for treating mental disorders. Normal psychology is described as a person appearing to be in good mental and physical health. He/she tends to be in compliance to societies expectations and would be generally considered a normal person by the general population. The patterns of behavior tend to be equivalent to those demonstrated by most of society. Society controls behavior by two different means. Tradition and Laws! First let us examine tradition. Traditions are simply rituals, which are as old as humanity and conducted so that everyone will behave in a socially acceptable way. For example, table manners are a universal claim, with variations existing in different cultures; they remain similar all around the world. Laws are established by society which...
Words: 1402 - Pages: 6
...Case Study of John Hinckley Janeen Tipton PSY/410 July 22, 2012 Dr. Johnson Case Study of John Hinckley In the field of psychology, a science evolved nearly 100 years ago, named Abnormal Psychology. This field addresses those with mental illnesses/disorders with diagnosing, treatment, and other forms of therapies such as behavioral and cognitive therapies. In order to properly diagnose an individual with any form of disorder, if one exists, it is imperative that the client divulge all feelings, behaviors, thoughts, and emotions for a proper diagnosis. There are individuals who are predisposed for certain disorders which are found at an early age, and then there are others that symptoms seem to arise later in life such as in the case of John Hinckley, who also failed at being honest about symptoms, behaviors, thoughts which due to this, proper psychiatric care could not be implemented leading to the attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan, a former U.S. President. John Hinckley’s Childhood John Hinckley had what is to be considered a normal childhood as that of his peers. By the age of nine years Hinckley and his family had moved twice within the same State; however the second move at nine years of age seemed hard for Hinckley as he lost some of his friends and social status (Meyer, Chapman, & Weaver, 2009, p. 325). After graduating high school in 1973, he moved again to Colorado only to return in 1974 to attend college. Hinckley only...
Words: 1564 - Pages: 7
...Unit 4222-619 Understand mental health problems (CMH 302) Outcome 1. Know the main forms of mental ill health 1 The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders (DSM) is published by the American Psychiatric Association. It is a classification of mental disorders which offers a common language and classification of mental disorders. It is used by the medical profession, researchers, pharmaceutical companies and health insurers. The fifth edition was published in 2013. DSM 4 divided each psychiatric diagnosis into five dimensions or axes, each one relating to different aspects of disorder or disability. AXIS I: Clinical Disorders (all mental disorders except Personality Disorders and Mental Retardation) Axis II: Personality Disorders and Mental Retardation Axis III: General Medical Conditions (must be connected to a Mental Disorder) Axis IV: Psychosocial and Environmental Problems (for example limited social support network) Axis V: Global Assessment of Functioning (Psychological, social and job-related functions are evaluated on a continuum between mental health and extreme mental disorder) The fifth edition has simplified this classification into three sections rather than the multiaxial system, but there has been much criticism of the new edition with doubts been thrown as to its impartiality, resulting in a petition calling for an outside review of DSM 5. In Europe there is a tendency to favour the I.C.D. as a means of classifying mental illnesses. The...
Words: 5294 - Pages: 22
...It is estimated that around 1 in 100 people will develop schizophrenia at some point in their lives, of which approximately 3 million live in the United States. Shockingly, 2.1% of African-Americans receive a diagnosis of schizophrenia, compared to 1.4% of whites. What accounts for this? Is it because African-Americans have a biological predisposition to schizophrenia? Is it because clinicians from majority groups either intentionally or unintentionally misdiagnose African-Americans due to their cultural differences? Or maybe it’s because of the fact that African-Americans have always been on average economically disadvantaged compared to whites. The reasons are most likely a combination of these factors, and others may exist. The idea of “racial schizophrenia” dates back to the 1960’s at the Ionia State Hospital for the criminally insane in Michigan, one of the nation’s most notorious insane asylums. During this time, the civil-rights movement was in full force. The author, Jonathan Metzl, researched the diagnosis of schizophrenia among many of the patients admitted to this hospital over the years. He also published a book about it called, The Protest Psychosis: How Schizophrenia Became a Black Disease. He discovered in his findings that many African-Americans during this time were admitted for armed-robbery, and property destruction, and considered insane, ultimately leading to a diagnosis of schizophrenia. These short court sentences were eventually turned into a...
Words: 878 - Pages: 4
...some among them who were behaving oddly were possessed by evil spirits. Hippocrates was the first recorded attempt to explain abnormal behavior as due to some biological process. During the Renaissance, belief in demonic possession (in which the possessed person was seen as a victim) gave way to a belief in witchcraft, and mentally ill persons were most likely called witches and put to death. 2) One way to define normal and abnormal is to use a statistical definition. Another way of defining abnormality is to see it as some- thing that goes against the norms or standards of the society in which the individual lives. Abnormal behavior that includes at least two of these five criteria is perhaps best classified by the term psychological disorder, which is defined as any pattern of behavior that causes people significant distress, causes them to harm themselves or others, or harms their ability to function in daily life. 1. Is the behavior unusual, such as experiencing severe panic when faced with a stranger or being severely depressed in the absence of any stressful life situations? 2. Does the behavior go against social norms? (And keep in mind that social norms change over time—e.g., homosexuality was once considered a psychological dis- order rather than a variation in sexual orientation.) 3. Does the behavior cause the person significant subjective discomfort? 4. Is the behavior maladaptive or result in an inability to function? 5. Does...
Words: 1187 - Pages: 5
...discuss the causes of bipolar, unipolar disorder that an individual might experience during his/her lifetime. Bipolar and unipolar disorders are categorized into five groups biological, psychodynamic, behavioral, cognitive, and sociocultural. Each type of group can be treated in similar, but different ways depending on how severe the case might be. Individuals who are faced with these disorders will want to seek professional help and advice before it becomes too bad, and escalades to something they cannot control known as mania. Individuals who experience mania have a rough time doing normal everyday activities, such as such as getting out of bed and putting clothes on. When an individual experiences bipolar disorder it is a state of depression that causes the individual to go through extreme mood changes frequently. Before and while an individual is experiencing bipolar disorder they will also experience manic. When manic occurs within an individual it becomes very challenging for that individual to execute daily activities. Some individual experiencing severe unipolar disorder might become in a deep depression that affects their every activity. Some individuals who experience unipolar disorder at a high level can feel as if it is impossible to even become motivated to get out of bed, and start their day. While the depression stage of bi-polar disorder and unipolar is almost indistinguishable, it is the manic stage of bi-polar disorder that sets them apart (Cassano, 2005)...
Words: 1281 - Pages: 6
...Bi-Polar Disorder HCA/240 Bi-Polar Disorder Bipolar disorder is one of the oldest mental disorders that have been recorded. In the 4th and 5th centuries B.C. it was believed that depression was caused by a body fluid known as black bile, while mania was caused by another fluid called yellow bile. Hippocrates recommended proper diet, drink and abstinence from sexual activity as cures. In the 2nd century A.D. a Greek physician named Aretaeus of Cappodociam first made note in his writings about individuals experiencing symptoms of depressive moods and manic episodes at the same time. In the middle ages it was believed that mental illness was divine punishment for a misdeed. Later, mentally ill people were persecuted for witchcraft and demon possession and killed. Treatment of bipolar disorder included bleeding, inducing vomiting and rest and relaxation in mineral waters, more excessive treatments such as sterilization and institutionalization were also used. These treatments continued to be used for thousands of years. Although, it was not until the 1850’s when two French doctors Jean Falret and Jules Baillarger observed that the cycle of mania and depression were phases of the same illness. In 1899, German psychiatrist Emil Kraepelin used the term manic depressive illness to define the cycle of mania and depression (Lauder, 2008). In the 1950’s and 1960’s psychiatrists began to study the patients with bipolar disorder and publish the research. From the 1950’s...
Words: 1375 - Pages: 6
...cleared to begin the clinical trial. Sliding the blood pressure cuff around her arm I noticed she was avoiding eye contact with me by looking at the floor. I asked her if the cuff was too tight and she broke down telling me she didn’t know where she was going to sleep that night. I cringed inside as this wasn't covered in my training and I didn’t know what to do so I looked at her and asked her what she had meant? She had been sleeping at the homes of family and friends but her friendships were being strained by her bi-polar disorder, which had been treated by her insurance until she was fired 4 months earlier. She couldn’t stay at her parents because they had disowned her for having a child with a man that was outside their religion. The baby was no longer staying with her because of her situation. Prior to all of this she had been a white-collar professional and I was shocked at how fast her situation had changed. She told me that the reason she was in the Bi-polar study was because the study gave her the same medicine that she was on under her insurance....
Words: 687 - Pages: 3
...to recovery if that is possible and live a functioning life. With many product treatments on the market a few work that have minimum side effects to the person taking them and the products are covered through medical insurance with little or no co pay. The product Wellbutrin is one of many anti-depressants on the market today that is safe and effective. Wellbutrin I chose this product because I have a 15 year old son who suffers from Bi Polar disorder and this product has been introduced to us to help my son live a normal productive life. Wellbutrin (bupropion) is an antidepressant medication used to treat seasonal affective disorders and major depressive disorders. Mental illness is a medical condition that disrupts a person’s way of thinking, feeling, moods, and the ability to relate to the other people and daily activities. Serious mental illnesses such as major depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder), panic disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PSTD) and borderline personality disorder. Mental illnesses can occur in a person at any age, race, religion, or income. Mental illnesses are not a result of someone being weak or come from a poor upbringing. One in 17 which is about 13.6 million live with a mental illness, about 20 percent of the youth between the ages of 13 to 18 suffer from mental...
Words: 278 - Pages: 2
