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Bipolar Disorder Research Paper

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Bipolar disorder, formally known as manic-depressive illness, is a mental illness which is primarily characterized by extreme shifts in mood, energy level, judgement, concentration, and sleep patterns. According to a study conducted by the National Institute of Mental Health (2005), “as many as 5.7 million Americans will be diagnosed with a form of bipolar disorder per year,” debunking the popular myth that bipolar disorder is a rare illness only affecting few. Typically, someone affected by this disorder would experience periodic shifts between intense emotional states, referred as “mood episodes.” In these episodes, one may experience a manic episode, a hypomanic episode, a depressive episode, …show more content…
The most common diagnoses within the spectrum are Bipolar I Disorder (BID) and Bipolar II Disorder (BIID). In BID, a person will usually experience both manic and depressive episodes, whereas a sufferer of BIID will have depressive episodes, but will only have hypomanic episodes, never full manic ones. For that reason, it may be difficult to differentiate BIID from a form of depression. Other types of bipolar disorders include Rapid-Cycling Bipolar Disorder (RCBD), Mixed State Bipolar Disorder (MSBD), and Cyclothymia. To be diagnosed with RCBD, a person would have to have a minimum of four episodes per year with any combination of the three types of episodes. A study conducted in 1995 revealed that while a relatively equal number of men and women experience bipolar disorder, “approximately three times as many women as men experience rapid cycling” (Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 2004, vol. 65). In MSBD, a person would experience both manic and depressive episodes at the same time. This form of bipolar disorder has the highest rate of suicide because of the combination of high energy from the manic episode, and extreme depression from the depressive episode. Cyclothymia is the mildest form of bipolar disorder, as one would experience hypomanic episodes in lieu of manic ones. The episodes last for a shorter period of time than in other variations of bipolar disorder, and typically do not involve hallucinations or

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