Living with Manic Depression, Bipolar Disorder

Dealing with Bipolar Disorder

Edward Chancelor from Mexico City writes with this snippet from McMan's "At the 2008 APA symposium, Robert Post MD of Penn State advised: "We have to change the way we practice this illness." Back in 2001, in a survey by the Stanley Foundation Bipolar Network, Dr Post and his colleagues did some counting of their own. Their tally revealed that, despite the fact that mania gets virtually all the attention, bipolar patients are depressed three times more than they are manic or hypomanic. Knock me over with a feather. Now if we only knew how to treat bipolar depression."

Causes of Bipolar Disorder

Linda Erickson from Minneapolis wrote in with this snip "Some studies show that bipolar disorder is more common in people whose biological family members also have the condition. Researchers are trying to find genes that may be involved in causing bipolar disorder. Some studies also show links between bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, pointing to a shared genetic cause."

Risk Factors for Manic Depression "Between one and two million Americans are thought to suffer from bipolar disorder. Estimates of the lifetime risk for the disorder run between 1.0% and 1.5%. There is some indication that the incidence of bipolar disorder may be increasing, but more research is needed to confirm this."	Levels of Bipolar Disorder"It affects approximately 2.3 million adult Americans—about 1.2 percent of the population. More than 2 million American adults, or about 1 percent of the population age 18 and older in any given year, have bipolar disorder."
Alternative Treatments Eric Caldwell from Seoul writes with this snip "I found it interesting that I have been trained in traditional psychiatry to medicate manic-depressives. Personally, I find this dreadful, as I think we lose a lot of great minds and creations when we do. Just think of all the historical geniuses who would fit the bipolar mold, and if they were living today, they would be medicated out of creating."	Bipolar Disorder in Children "Families of affected children and adolescents are almost always baffled by early-onset bipolar disorder and are desperate for information and support. In this section of the CABF web site, you will find answers to some of the most common questions asked about the disorder."
Recommended Reading on Bipolar "*Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Bipolar Disorder* (1996) Monica Ramirez Basco and A. John Rush. This is a textbook for clinicians. CBT is an evidence based psychotherapy for bipolar disorder."	Types of Manic Drepression"In Bipolar II disorder, the person doesn’t experience full-blown manic episodes. Instead, the illness involves episodes of hypomania and severe depression. In order to be diagnosed with Bipolar II Disorder, you must have experienced at least one hypomanic episode and one major depressive episode in your lifetime. If you ever have a manic episode, your diagnosis would be changed to Bipolar I Disorder."

Jaded Health