Diagnosing bipolar disorder is often difficult, even for mental health professionals. What distinguishes bipolar disorder from unipolar depression is that the affected person experiences states of both mania and depression.
Here’s a few other reasons why manic depression is so tough to diagnose:
1. Bipolar disorder expresses itself along a wide continuum, with some people experiencing a little mania, while others experience quite a bit.
2. Additionally, the younger the age of onset of bipolar disorder, the more likely the first few episodes are to be depression rather than mania. Which means the patient will be diagnosed with depression instead of manic depression.
Because a bipolar diagnosis requires a manic or hypomanic episode, many patients are initially diagnosed and treated as having major depression.
Mania is the signature characteristic of bipolar disorder and, depending on its severity, is how the disorder is classified. Usually, mania is characterized by a distinct period of an elevated mood, generally appearing to be euphoric. People commonly experience an increase in energy and a decreased need for sleep, with many often getting as little as 3 or 4 hours of sleep per night, while others can go days without sleeping
Hypomania is generally a mild to moderate level of mania, characterized by optimism, elevated speech and activity, and decreased need for sleep. Generally, hypomania does not inhibit functioning like mania.
To be diagnosed with manic depression (now called bipolar disorder) a person would be expected to have at least three of the following seven symptoms:
1. An unrealistically high sense of self esteem, along with grandiose thoughts and feelings
2. Sleeping is greatly reduced
3. Talks fast and frequent
4. Extremely rapid flight of thoughts; feeling the mind is racing
5. Easily distracted and difficulty focusing
6. Dramatic increase in social or work-oriented activities
7. Poor judgment, as manifested by uncontrollable spending sprees, increased sexual indiscretion, and misguided financial decisions.
The classic tool for working with manic depression symptoms, lithium has been a lifesaver for many who suffer from manic depression. Various antidepressants are frequently combined with lithium. Many people, however, can’t tolerate lithium.
One of the ways lithium relieves manic depression symptoms is by promoting increased brain levels of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine. Other mood-stabilizing medications include valproic acid and Lamictal.
Besides lithium and other mood stabilizing medication, antipsychotics are also used to help those with bipolar disorder.
Zyprexa, an antipsychotic medicine, is approved by the FDA for schizophrenia, acute mixed or manic episodes of bipolar disorder, and maintenance treatment in bipolar disorder.
Zyprexa can cause extremely unpleasant side effects such as diabetes, severe anxiety, tardive dyskinesia, (where your muscles spasm uncontrollably – sometimes irreversibly) and excessive weight gain. Another common side effect is a complete loss of libido.
Various other antipsychotic medicines are also used for bipolar, such as Abilify, Risperdal, Seroquel, and Geodon.
Another treatment option is Symbyax. While classified as an antidepressant, it’s actually a combination of Zyprexa and Prozac. Like all other drugs, especially those used to treat mood disorders, Symbyax comes with potentially serious side effects, such as fatigue, loss of libido, and weight gain.
As an alternative to prescription antidepressants, 5-Hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP) has been shown in scientific studies to be just as effective without the numerous side effects of depression medications. 5-HTP can be safely combined with lithium to reduce manic depression symptoms.
The heavy metal vanadium has been found in elevated levels in hair samples of manic patients. Upon recovery, the vanadium levels fall into the normal range.
Those with unipolar depression have normal vanadium levels in their hair samples, but elevated levels in their blood. Their levels also return to normal upon recovery.
Vanadium appears to play a major role in determining mood. One double-blind crossover study produced significant clinical improvement in manic depression symptoms by reducing vanadium levels. Their secret? They found a common nutrient present in many foods alters the chemical structure of vanadate to the less harmful vanadyl.
To find out how they did it, go to this site on manic depression symptoms.
Recent Comments