BIPOLAR DISORDER

The diagnosis of Bipolar disorder is currently increasing, as is the popularity of drugs that are meant to treat it. Advertising for drugs to treat Bipolar disorder is prevalent in the media. Bipolar disorder is the tendency to cycle between depressive states and periods of mania. Mania is an overly elevated, outgoing, or irritable mood persistently for more than one week. Symptoms include inflated self-esteem, deceased need for sleep, overly talkative with pressured speech, racing thoughts, distractibility, bodily agitation, and excessive involvement in pleasurable activity that has high potential for painful consequences.

While manic behavior would seem the polar opposite of depressive distress, it is the other side of the same coin. Mania accompanying depression is a relatively common human experience, and was formerly known as Manic-Depressive Disorder. Current National Institute of Mental Health statistics say that between one and two people in every one hundred are diagnosable with Bipolar disorder.

From the perspective of growth and development the patterns of mental development for people with Bipolar-type distress are very similar to those for depressive tendencies. While someone may have a physical or genetic predisposition to respond to mental and emotional distress with mania and depression, the key is that they are responding to some sort of distress. The distress may have external triggers, like painful life events, but the intense mental and emotional responses usually have significant internal connections. Dynamic therapy is well known for being able to help a person understand their distress and strengthen their resources for dealing with it.