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Lovella Santos

Instructor Judith McCann

English 1302.203

24 April 2022

The Negative Aspect of Bipolar Disorder

Bipolar disorder is quite common in persons of all ages. Bipolar I disorder and bipolar II

disorder are the most common types of bipolar disorder. Bipolar disorder is a form of manic

depression that is detrimental to the human mind. In fact, it reduces its ability to feel the proper

emotion at the time. Although it is more common among academics, bipolar disease has a

long-term negative influence on anyone's thinking. Everyone in the world exhibits some

symptoms of bipolar disorder, but this manic disease has its own set of causes, symptoms, and

treatments that have a negative impact on the person suffering from it.

Background

According to Mason, “Mood is the changing expression of emotion and can be described

as a spectrum. The outermost ends of this spectrum highlight two states, the lowest low,

melancholia, and the highest high, mania” (1). In other words, bipolar disorder, also known as

manic depression illness, is a mental health condition that causes mood swings, which includes

emotional highs and lows. It has many symptoms some include struggle sleeping, loss of touch

in reality, depression, low motivation, loss of interest in daily activities, suicidal thoughts, and

much more. Bipolar disorder has many types; they range from bipolar I disorder, bipolar II

disorder, cyclothymic (cyclothymia) disorder, mixed bipolar, and rapid cycling bipolar. Bipolar

disorder is not curable but it can be treated with therapy or antipsychotics.

Causes and Symptoms of Having Bipolar Disorder

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Bipolar disorder also known as manic depression is not noticeable but it has many

different causes that trigger the human mind. According to Setness, “biologic and environmental

factors are likely involved, bipolar disorder appears to be strongly linked to heredity…. In other

cases a traumatic event or tragic loss triggers the episode” (48). Meaning that bipolar disorder

can either be biological or it can be caused due to a traumatic event that triggers an episode to

happen. Like stated before it can either be biological or something has to trigger it in order to

have this manic problem. But due to these causes 2 types of bipolar disorder come to happen;

bipolar I disorder and bipolar II disorder. These 2 types of bipolar disorders are to be the most

common when it comes to episodes. For example, Bipolar I disorder has signs which include

hallucinations, delusions of guilt, and suicidal thoughts (Duffy et.al, 2019). While on the other

hand, bipolar II disorder has “higher rate of depressive episodes and more frequent suicide

attempts than BDI (bipolar disorder I)” (Karanti et.al, 2020). Although they both have different

symptoms they both affect the person's everyday living.

Having this severe manic disorder comes with a great cause and that is its symptoms. As

previously stated, some signs include difficulty sleeping, a loss of touch with reality, depression,

low motivation, a withdrawal from social activities, suicidal thoughts, and far more but they all

vary on the person.

“In the manic or hypnotic phase of the disorder, the affected person may feel extremely

optimistic and may believe he or she has superhuman abilities. This phase is often

accompanied by increased by increased activity, racing thoughts and speech, increased

interest in sex, agitation, restlessness, sleeplessness, inability to concentrate, irritability,

and poor judgement. The depressive phase may feature gloominess, guilt, anxiety,

difficulty thinking, hopelessness, changes in sleep and eating patterns, low self-esteem,
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fatigue, loss of interestin otherwise enjoyable activities, suicidal thoughts, and

distractibility.” (Setness et.at, 2005)

All of these symptoms affect the patient on another level since they do not know how to act at

the exact moment. Two of the most critical symptoms include sleeplessness and the changes in

eating. As already known, sleeping and eating are very important in a human's life. They both

help a human survive and live. If the person does not sleep nor eat properly they can get sick or

even die. As mentioned before, bipolar I disorder and bipolar II disorder has many features that

are to be considered critical, but both disorders have similar and different effects which include

sleep deprivation and changes in eating. According to Cosma, “sleep disorders, such as

parasomnias, narcolepsy and sleep-related movement disorders, are associated with depression,

whereas insomnia, obstructive sleep apnoea and circadian rhythm disorders are associated with

both depression and bipolar disorder in children and young people” (1). In other words, sleeping

disorders can also alter depression. According to McAulay, “…vulnerability to eating disorders,

as well as obesity and poor physical health, is people with bipolar disorder” (1). Meaning that

people with bipolar disorder can develop an eating disorder that can either make them obeise or

be underweight. Like mentioned before many people can have different symptoms that are

related to bipolar depression but it all varies on the person who is affected.

The Negative Side of Treatments

Like mentioned before bipolar disorder is not curable, it is chronic long term disease but

it can be controlled (Setness et.al, 2005). One way of controlling it is by taking antipsychotic

medications. Antipsychotics also known as neuroleptics are used to help reduce psychotic

symptoms such as depression, anxiety, hallucinations and much more. They contain serotonin,

dopamine, and lithium (Crowley et.al, 2014). They are basically relaxatives that are used to
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control bipolar episodes and are known to have high dosages. When given the treatment the

patient has to follow a strict agenda in which they have a small dosage of the medication because

many abuse the drug and overuse its content. Many doctors recommend such medications to

control the patients' episodes, but in reality they can lead to substance abuse (drug addiction) and

so therapy or peer consultation is mostly recommended. According to Hulvershorn, “SUDs

(substance use disorders) have been shown to be particularly associated with increased frequency

and duration of mood episodes, increased preoccupation with suicide, decreased treatment

compliance and more severe cognitive impairment in individuals with BD (bipolar disorder)”

(131). Although antipsychotics are helpful to reduce the manic symptoms/episodes they do affect

the patient in a negative way which could lead them to addiction or even worse death. This is

why therapy, peer consolation, or a support group.

Conclusion

Anyone in the world can experience some of the symptoms of bipolar disorder, but

bipolar disorder has its own set of causes, symptoms, and treatments that have a significant

impact on the person suffering from this manic disease. It may be common in all ages, but it is

and will always be a terrible condition to live with. Bipolar disorder is a form of manic

depression that is detrimental to the human mind. In fact, it reduces its ability to feel the proper

emotions at the appropriate time. Despite the fact that there are other varieties of bipolar illness,

the two most common are bipolar I disorder and bipolar II disorder. Bipolar disorder has a

harmful impact on anybody, regardless of age or gender.

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Work cited

Comsa, Monica, et al. "The relationship between sleep and depression and bipolar disorder in

children and young people." BJPsych Open, vol. 8, no. 1, 2022. ProQuest,

http://dx.doi.org/10.1192/bjo.2021.1076.

Crowley, Matthew J., et al. “Prioritization of Research Addressing Antipsychotics for

Adolescents and Young Adults With Bipolar Disorder.” Annals of Internal Medicine, vol.

160, no. 7, Apr. 2014, pp. 492–98. EBSCOhost,

https://doi-org.tamiu.idm.oclc.org/10.7326/M13-2549.

Duffy, Mary E., et al. “Psychotic Symptoms and Suicidal Ideation in Child and Adolescent

Bipolar I Disorder.” Bipolar Disorders, vol. 21, no. 4, June 2019, pp. 342–49.

EBSCOhost, https://doi.org/10.1111/bdi.12789.

Hulvershorn, Leslie A., et al. "Substance use disorders in adolescent and young adult relatives of

probands with bipolar disorder: What drives the increased risk?" Comprehensive

psychiatry, vol. 78, 2017, pp. 130-139. ProQuest,

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.comppsych.2017.07.010

Karanti, Alina, et al. “Characteristics of Bipolar I and II Disorder: A Study of 8766 Individuals.”

Bipolar Disorders, vol. 22, no. 4, June 2020, pp. 392–400. EBSCOhost,

https://doi-org.tamiu.idm.oclc.org/10.1111/bdi.12867.

Mason, Brittany, et al. “Historical Underpinnings of Bipolar Disorder Diagnostic Criteria.”

Behavioral Sciences, vol. 6, no. 3, 2016, p. 14., https://doi.org/10.3390/bs6030014.

McAulay, Claire, et al. "Eating Disorders, Bipolar Disorders and Other Mood Disorders:

Complex and Under-Researched Relationships." Journal of Eating Disorders, vol. 7,

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2019. ProQuest,

https://tamiu.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/eating-

disorders-bipolar-other-mood-complex-under/docview/2293327978/se-2,

doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s40337-019-0262-2 .

Setness, Peter A. "Bipolar Disorder." Postgraduate Medicine, vol. 118, no. 6, 2005, pp. 47-48.

ProQuest,

https://tamiu.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/bipolar

-disorder/docview/203977463/se-2?accountid=7081 .