Bipolar Disorder in Early Years essays

Bipolar Disorder in Early Years essays Bipolar affective disorder has been a mystery since the 16th century. History has shown that this affliction can appear in almost anyone. According to an article on bipolar disorder by, David E. Cohen, Some research suggests that highly creative people such as artists, composers, writers, and poets, show unusually high rates of bipolar disorder, and that periods of mania fuel their creativity. Famous artists and writers who might have suffered from bipolar disorder include poets Lord Byron and Anne Sexton, novelists Virginia Woolf (who did suffer from bipolar disorder) and Ernest Hemingway. (Encarta Encyclopedia) Despite the fact that many people suffer from bipolar disorder, we still wait for clear explanations for the causes as well as the cure. The one fact of which we are painfully aware of is that bipolar disorder severely weakens its victims ability to obtain and maintain social and occupational success. Manic and Depressive Symptoms of Bipolar Disorder Bipolar disorder or manic depression is characterized by many symptoms that can be broken into manic and depressive episodes. The depressive episodes are characterized by intense feelings of sadness, despair, hopelessness, and helplessness. guilt, crying spells, disturbances in sleep and appetite, loss of energy, feelings of worthlessness, difficulty thinking, indecisiveness, and recurrent thoughts of death and suicide. (National Depressive and Manic-Depressive Association). The manic episodes are characterized by elevated or irritable mood, increased energy, decreased need for sleep, poor judgment and insight, and often reckless or irresponsible behavior, grandiose delusions, inflated sense of self-importance, racing speech, racing thoughts, flight of ideas, impulsiveness, poor judgment, distractibility, reckless behavior and in the more severe cases, delusions and hallucinations.(NDMDA )(Encarta Encyclopedia) Bipolar disorder affects approximately one percent of ...