The cause of bipolar disorder is unclear, but hereditary, biological, and psychological factors may play a part. For example, the incidence of bipolar disorder among relatives of affected patients is higher than in the general population and highest among maternal relatives. The closer the relationship, the greater the susceptibility. Children with one affected parent have a 25% chance of developing bipolar disorder; children with two affected parents, a 50% chance. The incidence of this illness in siblings is 20% to 25%; in identical twins, the incidence is 66% to 96%.

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My family and I just found out that one of our relatives has bipolar and was wanting to find this person a good support group that they could attend.
A relative of mine needs help and assistance. Please no stupid or smart aleck remarks!

i once heard that being raised by an alcoholic father could be a factor in developing bipolar disorder. i don’t see the connection here but i’m still curious. does anyone know anything about it?

Manic-depressive psychosis, also known as bipolar disorder, is a brain ailment which causes rapid and unusual changes in the affected person’s mood, energy levels, and their ability to function normally. The mood swings caused due to manic depressive illness can range from highstrung and aggressive to down and out, sad and hopeless. These mood swings will go back and forth from one extreme to the other often with times of normal and calm moods between.

Bipolar disorder can seem to be something that it’s not, as excessive alcohol or drug use, below average school or work performance, and strained personal relationships are often signs of manic depression, and are also common problems among young adults and teens.

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It’s not uncommon to see a person who suffers from bipolar disorder go undiagnosed for close to eight years. Though proper treatments are available, they are still going undiagnosed or are getting inadequate treatment.

When the illness is left untreated, it can cause an assortment of trouble in the person’s life. It is important they be diagnosed soon as symptoms start so treatment can get started.

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I have to write a paper on how ridiculous it is that children are suddenly being diagnosed with bipolar disorder and about how all celebrities that are out of control suddenly have “bipolar disorder.” I can’t find any sites that speak out against these things. Can you find any?

As the numbers of people being diagnosed with bipolar disorder grows there are more and more people starting to worry that they or someone who is well known to them has the illness. However the problems start when these people do not actually know what bipolar disorder symptoms are and start to self diagnose. If you want to know which are the bipolar disorder symptoms that you should not ignore take a look at the list below:
• Manic or high episodes – these occur every few weeks or days in severe cases and these types of bipolar disorder symptoms are quite easy to spot. During a high a bipolar sufferer may be hyperactive, they might find they only need a couple of hours sleep each night and they feel as though they can take on any challenge.
• Risk taking may increase – during highs another one of the more dangerous bipolar disorder symptoms presents itself and the sufferer may take risks that they would not usually do. This could mean taking physical risks or consuming alcohol, stimulant drugs or both.
• Spending sprees – this might sound like a strange symptom but this is one of the most common bipolar disorder symptoms which many sufferers exhibit. These spending sprees are part of the risk taking behaviour and can sometimes seem totally out of character.
• Depressive episodes – during these times a person who is bipolar may completely withdraw into themselves and shun the outside world. They may have feelings anger, guilt or apathy and lack motivation. These bipolar disorders symptoms can cause disturbances in a person’s life as some will find it impossible to go to work or maintain relationships.
• Weight gain – this can be another of the bipolar disorder symptoms as a person’s appetite may change significantly. In the same way a person may lose a significant amount of weight when they are having a depressed episode and they lose their appetite.
• Another one of the bipolar disorder symptoms is known as ‘rapid cycling’ and this is the name given to when a person’s highs and lows go through fast cycles. For example a person may be on a manic high for 4-5 days then suddenly experience a severe low for the same period, next they might appear to be quite normal. Then the cycle begins again – this one of the more alarming bipolar disorder symptoms and one that is very common when a person’s moods are not being controlled and stabilised with the correct medication.
As you can see there are a large number of bipolar disorder symptoms and this list is by no means exhaustive. Some people who suffer from bipolar disorder may find that they exhibit all of these symptoms whilst others may only exhibit a few of them. However for a doctor to make a diagnosis of bipolar disorder the bipolar disorder symptoms must occur in regular cycles and not just be the result of a one time emotional upset in a person’s life.

Everyone experiences mood highs and lows. It is just a normal part of life. For those suffering bipolar disorder disease these highs and lows can vary from one extreme to another. The very high and low mood swings can interupt a normal daily life and can become very dangerous. If the person feels depressed, no work gets done. The next day they have so much energy that they go into overdrive mode. Other people see this hyper energy as being reckless or uncontrolled.

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Bipolar Disorder is better known by its former name, Manic Depression; a mental illness where a person manifest mood swings which presents itself in cycles where one switches between depressed, manic and a normal mood. In the U.S.A. over two percent of people are known to suffer from this illess, where thirty percent of all hospitilisations are for psychiatric patients in a single year.

Psychiatrists and psychologists have not come up with the actual cause of Bipolar Disorder as of yet. Researches have, however, made steady progress in understanding the brain and how it functions, the actual causes of many mental illness including Bipolar Disorder. This illness is currently understood to be caused by many factors which include biological, emotional, environmental and physical reasons.

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Does anyone have Treatments for Bipolar Disorder the advantages and disadvantages?