what do you know about Bipolar disorder?

Question

kid has it!!

Answer 1

Bipolar is exactly how it sounds. I was misdiagnosed with bipolar a few years ago, so I tried as best as I could to learn about the diagnosis and this is what I learned....
There are different severities. The most severe involves extreme "highs" were the person affected might think of himself as God-like. Above everyone else and extreme sense of confidence. The person will feel invinsible. Later on life, permiscuous behaviors are exposed and a possibility of drug and alcohol abuse is a risk due to the carefree attitude.
The lows that exist in these extreme cases make the person tired, severely depressed and desensitized. Suicidal thoughts may be present and the individual may try to hurt themselves. Both highs and lows also have forms of violence and severe irritation.
The more mild forms involve increased self-confidence and lack of sleep. The individual will become more confrontational and be extremely happy. Later in life, he/she will have milder forms of what I described and might also start to spend money irresponsibly.
Low episodes will have similar affects, but the individual may be able to function a little better and may not attempt suicide.
Keep in touch with your doctor and pay attention to your child's behavior changes. The doctor will want to know how long these behaviors last.
Physiologically, bipolar disorder is when cells in the brain start to die so neurons will continue to send messages to these areas and overstimulate and understimulate the area causing drastic behavioral changes. There is no way to repair the damage, but there is a way to stop it. I am not sure your beliefs on medication, but medication will help balance out this abnormal brain activity and stop the destruction. However, there is no repair to the brain. Good luck and please contact me via e-mail with any further questions.

Answer 2

Sorry this has landed on you. The extent of the problem is variable, so this might be a major inconvenience or a enduring disaster for your loved one and everyone in your family.

Bipolarity is an organic disorder, which leads to a growth of psychological problems.

If you haven't already, skip the psychologist and get to a psychiatrist. This problem, like schizophrenia, is in the primary domain of a medical doctor first. It is clearly a neuro-transmitter imbalance, so it has physical origins.The psychologist can sort out the resulting behavior problems later after you have a firm diagnosis from an M.D. and a treatment plan.

Schizophrenia shows up fairly blatantly, so family and friends quickly get a clue that "Johnny" is weird. Bipolarity can be subtle, bipolar people can function (often extremely well) and they can be charismatic and manipulative. This can lead to a lot of false accusations amongst family and friends and destroyed relationships before everyone realizes the source of the problem.

Good luck to you all. It is indeed stressful, and everyone in the family needs to be on the same page.

My last words of wisdom are to keep other family members who suffer from bipolar or unipolar at a distance. (Yes, it runs in families and does have a genetic component.) This has to be handled with someone who is extremely mentally healthy, patient, compassionate, and capable of seeing clearly through the fog of exaggerated reality created by a bipolar person.

Study hard and good luck to you. This is one T-shirt my family members and I all got and I wouldn't wish it on anybody.

But it's do-able.

Answer 3

Emotional highs and lows are part of life for everyone. But for someone with bipolar disorder, these ups and downs can be so extreme they can interfere with daily life. Sometimes they can even be dangerous.

One day a person with bipolar disorder may feel so depressed that they can't get out of bed. Work may seem impossible.

On another day that person may feel great, full of endless energy and creativity. But other people might think that their actions are reckless and out of control.

Bipolar disorder is a lifelong medical condition that can be confusing and unpredictable, but it's nothing to be embarrassed about. Learning more about bipolar disorder can be helpful in managing this medical illness.

It depends on what type of Bipolar your child has. Check out Bipolar.com for lots of helpful information and hopefully answers to your question. It is a treatable illness but can sometimes be frustrating to those exposed to it. Also, I work in the mental health field and I would caution you to check into the provider who diagnosed the Bipolar. We (in my work) often see it as over diagnosed so make sure a qualified and competed physician (a psychiatrist would be your best bet) has made the diagnosis. Good Luck!!

Answer 4

OK, so it's a mood disorder and a serious mental illness. It has a strong genetic component, but appears to be triggered environmentally. There are no diagnostic tests for it, just psychiatric evaluation. Most sufferers are not diagnosed until middle age, and it takes an average of around 8-10 years to get a correct diagnosis. Historically, figures suggested it affects about 0.8% of the population at some point, which makes it about half as common as schizophrenia. In recent years, bipolar disorder has become an 'in' diagnosis, and many more people are being diagnosed at younger and younger ages. As with ADHD, this fad may well pass with time, although for the moment many celebrities appear to be 'popularising' it.

It is characterised by episodes of severe clinical depression and mania or hypomania (for definitions of those, see here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Current_diagnostic_criteria_for_bipolar_disorder ). The extreme end of mania often turns into psychosis, complete with hallucinations and delusions. During manic phases, the person's judgement and perception of reality is severely compromised, leading to risky actions with potentially damaging consequences (financially, sexually and relationship-wise). Untreated, episodes generally worsen over time due to an effect known as kindling. Untreated Bipolar sufferers are at a very high risk of suicide: 20-25% attempt it, and 15% succeed.

The cycles in bipolar disorder are much longer than people generally believe. Anyone whose mood changes from minute to minute is very unlikely to be bipolar. Bipolar 1 is characterised by mood episodes lasting many months, while Bipolar 2 has episodes in the region of weeks to months. Rapid and ultra-rapid cycling bipolar disorder is rare, and cycles last days to weeks.

There are many drugs available to treat the symptoms of bipolar (there is no cure). These are either anti-convulsants or anti-psychotics (personally I take both), and the most well known of these is Lithium. These drugs are heavy duty psychiatric medications and are not to be taken lightly, and most if not all of them have a range of side effects including lethargy, photosensitivity, cognitive impairment (dumb as a box of rocks), weight gain, hormone problems, hair loss and blood problems. These side effects have to be weighed against the benefits of mood stabilisation. Most patients will go through a number of different drugs before finding one that works for them.

Answer 5

I don't quite understand. Your question says, "kid has it" Anyone with bipolar disorder should be under the care of a psychiatrist, a family practice doctor isn't knowledgeable enough.

If the person of concern is your child, they should be under the care of a child or adolescent psychiatrist.

Bipolar disorder is often a difficult problem to treat, that is why a specialist is necessary. If your child is the person of concern, their psychiatrist can better inform you about the things specifically important for them.

I suspect you can get some good information on the Web by doing a search on the disease.

Answer 6

Just to be sure, insist on having brain M.R.I. of your child done and have your child seen by an endocrinologist and by a neurologist specializing in brain stem diseases. I know of many patients diagnosed with bi-polar disorder (by the psychiatrists) who had other health problems with bi-polar like symptoms that disappeared when the diet was changed, for example, gluten intolerance may manifest in hi-lo mood swings too, but it will also show as a brain stem shrinkage on MRI image. I wish you good luck in finding the right alternatives to the dangerous drugs currently prescribed for by-polar disorder.

Answer 7

Bipolar Disorder is a mental disorder. A person usually has multiple personalities. They can be happy one moment and sad or crying the next. It is really hard to test to see if a person is bipolar according to a psychologist. Yes, children can have bipolar disease. It is usually in children who are depressed at a young age. This information is what I have been told from a physician.

Answer 8

My boyfriend has bi-polar disorder. The biggest thing I notice in him is the way he can go from a severe high moment to a severe low moment in a flash. Major mood swings.

Answer 9

Major highs, major lows, spend lots of money, can be suicidal. The medication used to treat it or one of them is lithium. But very dangerous medication and can only be taken for twenty years.

Answer 10

Your kid can be rich and cure it. See webpage for uplifting stories on this.

http://www.phifoundation.org/heal.html