Bipolar Disorder
Bipolar disorder is a mood disorder in which a person alternates between the hopelessness and lethargy of depression and the overexcited state of mania (Myers 10e, p 622). Bipolar disorder is also known as manic-depressive illness, it is a brain disorder that causes unusual shifts in mood, energy, activity levels, and the ability to carry out day-to-day tasks (NIMH). The defining feature of bipolar I disorder is the presence of at least one lifetime manic episodes (Johnson). People with bipolar disorder experience unusually intense emotional states that occur in distinct periods called mood episodes. Each mood episode represents a drastic change from a person’s usual mood and behavior (NIH). A manic episode is an overly joyful or overexcited state and a depressive episode is an extremely sad or hopeless state. People with bipolar I disorder often suffer from depressive episodes as well. The DSM IV defines mania as a distinct period of abnormally and persistently euphoric or irritable mood that lasts at least one week. The DSM says mood changes are followed by at least three of the following symptoms: overly confident self-esteem, racing thoughts, distractibility, excessive involvement in pleasurable activities that can result in negative consequences, excessive talkativeness, decreased need for sleep, and increases in goal-directed activity (Johnson). According to the DSM these symptoms lead to clear impairment. There are other forms of bipolar disorder such as bipolar II disorder and cyclothymia.
In 1854, Jules Baillarger (1809–1890) and Jean-Pierre Falret (1794–1870) independently presented descriptions of the disorder to the Académie de Médicine in Paris. Baillarger called the illness folie à double forme (‘dual-form insanity’) whereas Falret called it folie circulaire (‘circular insanity’) (Burton). Bipolar disorder’s modern psychiatric concept was developed in the nineteenth century. In the early 1900s a German psychiatrist Emil...