medicalx - Bipolar Disorder

Bipolar Disorder

Bipolar disorder = disease of two faces

Bipolar disorder (manic depression old term) is a psychiatric disorder, which alternates two mood states: depression and mania. Bipolar disorder can be thought of as a disease of two faces: the stage of depression is a man sad, feel emptiness, apathy, tired, while in a manic phase, all the euphoric (too well-being and mood), it has no obstacles, it is a very good mood nothing is tired.

Signs and symptoms of bipolar disorder are different

    * Depression: The main signs and symptoms of depression are sadness, anxiety, feeling of emptiness and despair. There are pessimism, helplessness, and guilt brezvrednosti. Individuals lose pleasure and interest in things and activities that they previously delight. Depression is accompanied by difficulty sleeping (insomnia or excessive sleeping), as amended cross (loss of appetite or excessive appetite), the man is without power, is more irritable, have difficulty concentrating. Have also been frequent physical symptoms (headache, indigestion, pain in the body) and thoughts about death and suicide.
    * Mania: The opposite of depression is mania, which is characterized by a high energy when people are overly confident and strong. Often working nerazsodno (many shopping, spend money on things you do not need) are arguing, you can also aggressive. Sleep do not need (they can be awake for several days together), they are constantly in motion.
    * Hypomania: It is a mild form of mania that has similar but less severe symptoms.
    * "Mixed" form: In this form the symptoms of mania and depression are present at the same time or during the day mood often fluctuates. The person is feeling irritable or upset, but troubled and depressed, have trouble sleeping, and significant changes in appetite.

More info here Forms of the disease are different

It could be a classic form of the disease in which episodes of mania and depression, recurrent (bipolar disorder type I). Some patients never develop a pronounced mania, but only a mild form of mania (hypomania), which is cyclical change in depression (bipolar disorder type II). If within a period of 12 months, the patient repeated four episodes of illness or more, the fast repetitive or fast-circular shape of bipolar disorder. Some people experience multiple episodes of illness for a period of one week or even one day. Quickly repeat episodes are most often develops in later stage disease and more often in women than in men.
In patients with bipolar disorder, periods of depression and mania share differently. Depressive phase is usually longer and last longer, manic phase is less and last a short time. The spaces between the individual episodes vary in length. It is known that a patient with bipolar disorder, approximately half of their lives with no symptoms, a third time in the depressed phase, about one-tenth time in the manic phase, about 6 to 7 percent of the time, however, the manic and depressive symptoms at the same time. In the course of the disease affecting environmental and biological triggers of stress.
The impact of disease on the patient's life

Bipolar disorder can significantly affect a person's functional ability and his social life. Depressive phase is that the patient's life is a big negative impact. The rate of suicide among patients with bipolar disorder several times higher than among healthy population. As 25-50% of patients with bipolar disorder is at least trying to commit suicide. Most suicides occur when the depressive phase begins or ends. Additionally patients can complicate the situation further concurrent disorders, such as kompulzivnost (forced neurotic phenomenon, which compels the patient to perform activities, rituals and ceremonies, which he has been
very pointless), anxiety (anxiety), personality disorders, abuse alcohol and other substances. Research shows that there is a link between drug addiction and bipolar disorder: the patients with bipolar disorder, the more drug users than among the healthy population, nearly half of all those being treated for addiction has had or has bipolar disorder, or is it that occur during treatment.
Who is diagnosed with bipolar disorder?

For bipolar disorder can hurt everyone, including children and adolescents. The most frequently first appears during early adulthood.
How common is bipolar disorder?

It is estimated that the disease affects 1.2 to 1.6% of the population. In Slovenia, both have bipolar disorder, 24,000 people. It is believed that in 2011 in Europe were suffering from bipolar disorder, 2.2 million people.
What causes bipolar disorder?

The occurrence of bipolar disorder, contributing many causes (hereditary and environmental). Increased stress or alcohol abuse or. drugs are usually triggering factors that identify an inherited predisposition to develop disturbance. Sam mechanism of bipolar disorder is not fully understood. The disease should be involved abnormal transmission of nerve impulses, the wrong signals between cells and gene expression, and chronic damage to neurons.
Problems in the diagnosis of bipolar disorder

It is estimated that it takes an average of 5 years from first symptoms to installing the correct diagnosis. Misdiagnosis is common, as much as 30 percent of patients with bipolar disorder initially placed second diagnosis (usually depression). The fact is that there is no reliable medical tests for the disease, such as. blood tests or X-rays.
After medical attention there than patients in the depressed phase, since this is very disruptive to the patient. Patient depression simply can no longer tolerate, and therefore wants to help. By contrast, the manic patient feels, it has nice things can do, a lot of ideas and communicate easily. As he was doing very well, of course, does not ask whether it is wrong, therefore, is not seeking assistance. In identifying unusual changes in mood in patients with bipolar disorder are therefore very important role to play near or. friends (surrounding) the patient. Also they are often the ones who first noticed changes in the patient mood.

More info here How to treat bipolar disorder?

Bipolar disorder is treated and preventive or acute. maintenance. The aim of acute treatment, individual treatment of mood episodes (manic, hypomanic, depressive or mixed episodes). Preventive or maintenance treatment of a long-term treatment aimed at preventing the recurrence of any mood episode. In the treatment play a key role medicines that are needed in virtually all patients during the acute and maintenance phase of treatment. To aid in the treatment are psychotherapy, education about the disease and various support groups. Proper treatment can help reduce the number and severity of recurrent episodes, thereby enabling people with bipolar disorder to live a quality life.
Pharmacotherapy

The most important medicines used to treat bipolar disorder are mood stabilizers. Among the mood stabilizers rank those products that are effective in acute forms of mania and depression can help prevent such episodes and do not increase mood swings. Products that are mood stabilizers lithium and some antiepileptic drugs. Stabilisation operation also show some atypical antipsychotics.

Choice medicine
Treatment of bipolar disorder, depending on the mood episode, in which the patient. The patient should take the mood stabilizer (lithium, lamotrigine, valproate, carbamazepine), which is in the acute treatment combined with atypical antipsychotics in the manic phase, or antidepressants in the depressive phase of bipolar disorder. The patient should take only one medication (mood stabilizer), but often patients receive several drugs at the same time, while taking at least one mood stabilizer treatment.

How long should the treatment take place?
Bipolar disorder is a long-term disease, which therefore requires long-term (long) treatment. After the first episode of bipolar disorder treatment usually lasts two years, after the second episode five years, while the third one's life.

What you can do yourself?

    * It is important that we pay attention to your mood. Mood swings is quite normal, once we are happy, sometimes sad. If these fluctuations strongly deviate from the normal and due to these fluctuations, we have problems in everyday life, it's probably a bipolar disorder. In this case, talk with your neighbor and help with the doctor.

If a doctor certifies illness, we must consider its guidance in relation to treatment.

    * Regularly we need to take prescribed medication, because the outcome of treatment depends on our cooperation. Medicines should be taken even when we feel good and as long as a doctor. Observing his own mind and write a diary or record the mood to specific calendars will help us understand the disease and will help our treatment.
    * We dedicate to activities that are enjoyable for us and encouraging (eg, walking in nature) and should be avoided to those activities that can lead to mood changes (eg stress, alcohol and drugs). Learning to cope with stressful situations.

How can patients help near?
Help close or friends is very important in helping to identify mood changes in the patient. They take care of the patient to record their mood changes, regularly taking medications, be devoted to pleasant activities and to avoiding abuse of alcohol and drugs and help patients cope with stressful situations.