Things to Consider When Treating Bipolar Disorder

Treating bipolar manic depressive disorder in young children, middle aged people, expecting or sickly females need uncommon considerations the moment they take in their bipolar medications. There are a good number of benefits of taking prescribed drugs on a developing or deteriorating human body. Because studies around this mental illness is still continuing, a lot is still left for us to know and learn.

Treating Younger Children

There are actually numerous treatment options that can surely assist young children with regards to bipolar medications. However, any forms of therapy, attitudinal treatment, social training, family treatment plan, along with group counseling ought to be considered prior to choosing the recommended medicines for young children. The actual treatment chosen regarding little ones will be dependent on the analysis as well as the child’s preference.

Children really should be supervised and watched that they really are in fact swallowing all their prescribed medicine and with the correct amount. Long term rewards regarding a number of bipolar medicinal drugs in small children are not even known, particularly with recently produced drugs.

Aging adults Worries

Old people could occasionally and unintentionally consume more bipolar medications simply because they fail to remember that they have already consumed the prescribed amount and so take on an additional allocation. The utilization of seven-day box can certainly be of great help.

The aging population, along with their precious buddies, relations and care givers will be required to pay particular attention and also watch for undesirable (unfavorable) mental and physical reactions to prescribed medications. Due to the fact they frequently acquire additional drugs (such as medicines for flue or headache, over-the-counter medicine for example aspirin) the likelihood of unfavorable reactions is great for the aged people.

Final Advice

Just like any kind of medicine, bipolar medicines will not deliver the exact same influence on everybody. As far as medicine is concerned, lots of patients will react much better to one type of medicine and require much larger dosage than others. After saying all that, a lot of people encounter frustrating bad results, whilst other folks do not. There are factors to consider like peoples age, their gender male/female, entire body measurements, biological makeup, physical health issues and other medicinal treatments. Also bad eating habits, unhealthy way of life like cigarette smoking, illicit drugs and alcohol consumption are also some of the reasons which could hinder the success of bipolar medications in a person.

Bipolar II or Bipolar 2

Not like bipolar I, bipolar II does not involve manic episodes. There are four types of Bipolar Disorders, bipolar I, bipolar II, bipolar NOS and Cyclothymic Disorder. Bipolar II Disorder is marked by at least one severe episode of depression and at least a hippo manic symptom moving into psychotic mania – this according to – DSM-IV-TR – the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Between bipolar 1 and bipolar II, bipolar 2 can be quite difficult to diagnose, because bipolar II is similar to comorbid (combined) anxiety and depression.

How common can we Expect Bipolar II?

Most experts believe that bipolar II is the most common form of Bipolar, with researchers even saying that it affects more than five percent of the whole population. While Bipolar Disorder may initially develop in late adolescence or early adulthood , some children may have bipolar symptoms as early as age two only later to be diagnosed as bipolar.

Should we expect Different kinds of Bipolar II?

When 4 or more mood episodes of bipolar illness happening within one year period, that person can be in the group of a rapid-cycling bipolar disorder. But, lots of experts consider this to be quite a conservative definition, because some individuals experience several mood episodes within a week, or even in a day. When patients have these changes daily or weekly it is said that they are going through ultra rapid-cycling. Much more common in women than in men – rapid cycling have the tendency to develop much later during the period of the illness and is very difficult to diagnose and treat.

Symptoms of Bipolar II Disorder

Another way of looking at bipolar II disorder is- it is a milder form of a bipolar disorder, which includes cases of depression that interchange with hypomania not mania symptoms. Some of the signs are:

• having a continuous, high or irritable mood, but the absence of psychosis, or loss of touch with reality, found in severe manic symptoms.

• At least one severe episode of depression, and one hippo manic episode. Patients with bipolar II symptoms are not psychotic with delusions and hallucinations.

Bipolar II Treatment

Although bipolar II is probably not caused by traumatic experiences, such factors as abuse can affect the recovery of a bipolar II victim . It is good to approach bipolar II with both medication and therapy for full recovery. When these two are combined together – bipolar medication and cognitive behavioral therapy, victims of bipolar II respond quickly and successfully. With early treatment, bipolar I and II patients can live a more healthy and normal lives and also attain successful relationships with their loved ones.

Anxiety is the feeling of worry, tension and apprehension, which can be a symptom of bipolar disorder depression.  This was recognized by Dr. Emil Kraepelin, back in 1921.  He described "anxious mania", as an "excited depression", which includes "great restlessness". In his article he specifically named anxiety as one of the components of bipolar illness.  While "anxiety" may not generally be regarded as a bipolar symptom it is now recognized as one of the symptoms of this mental disorder.

Co-Morbid Condition

Anxiety can inhibit a person in two different ways either as a bipolar symptom disorder or a separate anxiety condition in addition to bipolar disease.  When this happens it is called in medical language, a "co-morbid" condition. In other words it means that the combined conditions are present, bipolar and anxiety but the later is not coming from the bipolar disorder itself.

The Experience of Anxiety

Bipolar victims usually describe their anxiety as a disturbing condition during which they can lose their normal capacity to think and judge rationally. When in their severe mode they are usually unable to control their racing thoughts and find it hard to explain the situation to anyone. Anxiety can be triggered by a number of factors, this includes, life’s experiences, physical and psychological traits. Genetics of family history can also have an implication in the makeup of this anxiety disorder.

The Brain

Recent studies have shown that there is a link between anxiety disorders and certain areas of the brain, especially the imbalance in noradrenaline, serotonin and Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA). These neurotransmitters with big amounts or the lack of it may contribute to the symptoms of the disease. No one can really say with certainty what the real cause of the disorder is.

Serotonin Hypothesis

Although there has been much research into the role of serotonin in the brain, the only suggestion is, anxiety is caused by abnormally increased of serotonin concentrations and depression due to abnormally decreased serotonin concentrations. This may be an oversimplification of the issue which we are just trying to hypothesize.

Alcohol Use

To suppress their anxiety,  many have chosen alcohol for temporary relief, which may make them feel relaxed for a few hours, but this is in not a good solution to the problem because alcohol will only add to the worsening of bipolar disease.

Medication Warning

While doctors may often recommend treatment for the anxiety condition with antidepressant medication, these medications can make this mental illness worse!  There have been a lot of controversies surrounding antidepressants drugs. Antidepressant drugs must always be accompanied by mood stabilizers when treating bipolar symptoms.  And also be warned that all bipolar medications may work for some and not for others and the side effects like itching or weight gain can happen to anyone.

High Risk Involved

Anxiety is a depressive mode which must be treated because the risk factors of suicide are great.  For those in this depressive mode, the present feels unbearable, the future looks hopeless and pointless, so why not end it all. If you or your friend are  thinking and feeling like this, see a doctor or therapist to help you manage your bipolar symptoms of depression  in the short and long term. Bipolar anxiety which comes under depression must not be taken lightly, for any life whether yours or your friends  is precious.

Non bipolar individuals do not understand the different world bipolar patients live in. These people see the world in a very different way because the chemical signals in the brain are either sending the wrong signals or not at all. It can be compared to two people looking in on an accident, both individuals have seen the same accident, but differ in their perceptions and emotions.

Those with the condition are paranoid with life and have the notion that people cannot feel what they are going through and understand  a bipolar mood swing. Bipolar patients look at life from an ugly perspective they feel ugly and see themselves as looking ugly. Danger seems to be everywhere, colors look weird and they hate being in a  crowd with lots of  energy. The thought of feeling good can terrify them. Those living with a bipolar victim can offer a great support  by lending a listening ear. These victims can be your very own children, parents, cousins or other members of a nuclear family. You as a family can form the first bipolar support group to help them look at why they think the way they think, feel and what it is that makes them see the world as it is.

First Line of Support

Those living with a bipolar person must realize that they are the first people that must know what to do to support their relative who is a bipolar patient. There are two kinds of people we often come across, those who know they are sick and need help and others who cannot admit they are sick and so do not want to seek help. When bipolar medications is not working well, people will look for other alternative to make them better and so will ask anybody for help. You can help greatly as a friend or relative by spending time with them, talking and listening. By doing this, they begin to share their emotions and deepest thoughts – we don’t realize that they also want company.

Charting

Either as a parent or caregiver you as a bipolar supporter must first track the sick person’s day. Chart down their attitudes, moods and their behaviors and at what time of the day for this will be helpful especially if certain behaviors are happening at certain times of the day and for your sessions together. You must not rely on them to do this because they are not capable due to the short term memory problem.

Throwing Back

“Tracking” comes in handy when it comes to feedback sessions as it will allow you to tell them what happened and how they have reacted to certain situations. If they did something really good; it is important to convey how well they have handled the situation and also bring to their attention what they use to do before. Bipolar patients need to see what they are doing wrong and then CAREFULLY bring it to their attention, understanding the problem as a supporter and not aggravate the problem even more. If they are doing something right they need to know what it is and learn for themselves what they did, capitalize and continue doing it.

Giving Your Ears

Most people would rather talk offering suggestions than offering a listening ear. You as a bipolar supporter can just listen and ask questions to allow them to express  all that is in their mind. Even if you can’t help just listen and talk, for anybody that listens is a great help. You don’t have to have a direct clear answer; most people just want people to listen to them.

Bipolar Affective Disorder is essentially a mental illness which causes sufferers to experience severe and sometimes very sudden mood swings. For the most part, patients will experience periods of mania and depression, hence the reason why this illness is often referred to as Manic Depression. Currently patients can benefit from successful bipolar disorder treatment can comprise both medication and therapy.

Intensive research into the cause of bipolar affective disorder has resulted in numerous new medications becoming available to patients, particularly during the last five years. Listed below are some of the leading and most successful bipolar disorder treatment – medications available on the market today.

Aripoprazole

In 2004 an anti-psychotic drug known as Aripiprazole was approved as a bipolar disorder treatment for manic depression as well as mixed bipolar disorder, and in 2005 it was also approved as a so called maintenance treatment for bipolar disorder. Unlike the vast majority of anti-psychotic drugs which work by means of suppressing or blocking dopamine receptors in the brain, Abilify or Aripiprazole is designed to simply stabilize these receptors. Because of this new approach, this latest medication is viewed by many as being the treatment of choice for treating bipolar affective disorder.

Celexa

While it has been on the market for many years already, Celexa, which is essentially an anti-depressant drug, has been prescribed more and more frequently in recent years as a bipolar medication. Of course anti-depressants can cause patients suffering from this disorder to plunge into a state of depression, which is why an additional mood stabilizer may need to be prescribed. However, Celexa has proven to be more predictable than many other anti-depressants, which in turn has resulted in fewer patients requiring any mood stabilizing drugs. Furthermore, Celexa has also shown extremely promising results when used as a maintenance drug for bipolar affective disorder.

Geodon

Another very promising bipolar disorder treatment – medication is Geodon. While this is a typical anti-psychotic drug used as a mood stabilizer for bipolar affective disorder patients, it has an advantage over many other drugs such as Zyprexa, in that is does not result in weight gain. Additionally, unlike Zyprexa, Geodon has fewer side effects. It's also been noted that any side effects resulting from Geodon are significantly milder than those experienced with Zyprexa.

Wellbutrin

Wellbutrin is another bipolar medication which has been used with much success in treating those suffering from bipolar affective disorder. Interestingly enough, Wellbutrin, also marketed as Zyban, was originally developed in order to help people quit smoking. However, it was recently discovered, purely by chance, that this medication is extremely beneficial to patients when used as an anti-depressant. To date, it still remains unclear as to why Wellbutrin works so effectively for bipolar affective disorder sufferers as it has absolutely no chemical similarities to any other anti-depressant drugs. It should also be mentioned that Wellbutrin poses no risk as far as weight gain is concerned.

Researchers all over the world are continuously searching for new and improved treatments which will be successful in treating bipolar affective disorder. It's therefore essential that patients regularly discuss treatment options with their doctors and that they make an effort to stay informed with regards to the latest developments in bipolar medication. This is in essence, the only way patients can be sure they are benefiting from the most successful bipolar disorder treatment for bipolar affective disorder.