Mental Illness Hca 240

Mental Illnesses

Bipolar Disorder

Kevin Nichols

HCA 240

January 15, 2012

Dr. Monica Reed, PhD, MPH

Mental Illness is a part of society that until recently was deemed horrible and many people tried to hide the fact they had mentally ill children with the fear of embarrassment. In the following one will learn about the mental illness of Bipolar Disorder. There is a lot of history and background associated with Bipolar Disorder as well as myths, treatments, and misconceptions of the past. In addition one will be able to discover the signs and symptoms associated with Bipolar disorder, and what specific neurotransmitters play a role in this disease. The specific tests and diagnostic tools for the professional diagnosis will be gone over as well. Summing up the paper will be the comparison to past and present dealings with Bipolar Disorder.

One may ask what exactly Bipolar disorder is? Bipolar disorder is a serious mental illness that can lead to risky behavior, damaged relationships, careers, and even suicidal tendencies if it is not treated. “Bipolar disorder used to be known as manic depressive disorder or manic depression” (WebMD, 2010). Manic is described an increasingly restless, energetic, talkative, reckless, powerful, euphoric period. Lavish spending sprees or impulsive risky sex has been known to occur in addition to the previously mentioned. Then, at some point, this high-flying mood can spiral into something darker such as irritation, confusion, anger, or feeling trapped. Depression is described as the opposite mood involving sadness, crying, sense of worthlessness, loss of energy, loss of pleasure, and sleeping problems.

There are numerous myths and misconceptions linked with Bipolar disorder. One of the more popular myths is that bipolar disorder is a rare condition. This is not true. Bipolar disorder affects over five million adults in the United States. The mental illness is not rare at all and affects roughly three percent of the total...