Bipolar disorder is a brain disorder that causes severe shifts in mood, energy, and ability to function. While most people have typical ups and downs in life, patients with bipolar disorder have very severe ups and downs which result in damaged relationships, poor school or work performance and in severe cases, suicide (Caruso, 2007). There are two components to bipolar disorder which are considered episodes. The manic episode is the up while the depressive episode is down. It is estimated that more than 2 million Americans have been diagnosed and are currently living with bipolar disorder (Caruso, 2007). This is 2.6% of the American population age 18 and over. Of the various types of mental illness, patients diagnosed with bipolar disorder are more likely to attempt or commit suicide than patients with any other type of mental illness. Studies suggest that 25% to 50% of bipolar disorder patients attempt suicide at least once and at least 11% of that total actually commits suicide (Caruso, 2007).

Many people know bipolar disorder as manic-depressive Illness. The term manic-depressive illness was developed by a German psychiatrist by the name of Emil Kraepelin (1856-1926) in the late 19th Century. Because of the stigma attached to mental disorders and the need to develop a neutral term, the name of the illness was changed to bipolar disorder in the late 1990’s (Tucker, 2004). Patients with bipolar disorder exhibit two types of symptoms: mania and depression. Symptoms of mania include feelings of euphoria, abundance of energy, extreme activity, racing thoughts, talking fast, sleeping little and the abuse of alcohol and/or drugs (Dilsaver, 2007). A manic episode occurs when an elevated mood exists with three or more symptoms present for most of the day every day of the week or longer. Symptoms of depression include intense sadness, extreme lethargy, inability to concentrate, feeling worthless, sleeping too much or too little, eating too much or too little,...