Whoops I'm a muppet!

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da dick
 

Whoops I'm a muppet!

Unread postby da dick » Mon Feb 21, 2005 6:15 pm

<big>On Being Bipolar
by Diane Kuhl
</big>

As a young adult in America with bipolar disorder, I find myself faced with a number of issues related to my illness. Perhaps the most frustrating and frequent issue has been a problem I think we all can sympathize with--the simple matter of ignorance.

By no means do I mean this in a mean or hurtful way. The fact of the matter is that--as with many mood disorders--there is quite a bit of misinformation on bipolar illness. Further, in my own experience, I have seen proper information on bipolar illness left out of pamphlet after pamphlet on mood disorders and depressive illnesses. In a humble attempt to spread a bit of information about a topic near and dear to me, I present to you this little essay.


WHAT IT IS; MANIA AND HYPOMANIA

What is the difference between a bipole and someone who suffers from depression? Those who have bipolar illness and depression both have depressions; however, what distinguishes a bipole is that they also has either manias or hypomanias. Bipoles who experience manias are type I bipoles and those who experience hypomanias are type II bipoles.

Depressions are your lows, and manias are your highs; hypomanias are not quite as high as manias (thus, type II bipoles may more readily agree to treatment than type I, who wish to continue experiencing their manic episodes). Manias include a combination of symptoms such as inflated self-esteem, staying awake for excessive amounts of time (many days at a time, for instance), irritability (particularly when interrupted), delusions, extreme talkativeness, extreme creativity and rapid succession of ideas, distractibility, and/or decisions to engage in dangerous/high risk activities (compulsive shopping sprees, sexual indiscretions, et cetera).

Hypomania, meanwhile, is much like mania much toned down. While hypomanic, a type II bipole may be unrealistically and unadvisedly optimistic, but is not likely to delude and mistakenly believe in their ability to fly from the balcony. Nonetheless, I have personally found hypomanias to be incredibly disruptive to my sleep schedule and social interactions, with irritability and racing thoughts to be a particular problem. Also, I have witnessed when hypomanias take on the form of irrational anger, and it is quite the display--intimidating, and by no means conducive for normal functioning.

A further element to the bipolar illness is the rate at which a bipole cycles between their episodes and in-between them, if they have such time. A single episode can last years or, for the few unlucky "ultra-rapid-cyclers" (as opposed to "just" rapid-cyclers), it can change many times within a day. The word is that rapid-cyclers are notoriously resistant to treatment.


SEEKING TREATMENT; WHY ANTIDPRESSANTS WON'T WORK ALONE

There are three neurotransmitters which are linked strongly to mood--serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine. In those who suffer clinical depression, the levels of these three chemicals go down, and can be boosted in any number of ways. Obviously, one way to go is with medicine, which may be used to up the level of any of these chemicals to make up for the defficiency and acheive a stable mood.

In most, antidepressants cannot send you into a manic or hypomanic episode. However, it can for a bipole.

In a bipole, the levels of serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine fluctuate constantly between too low and too high. Too low, of course, produces depressive episodes, and too high produces manic or hypomanic episodes. Thus, if one is to treat a bipole with antidepressants alone, one would boost the neurotransmitters and...send the bipole into a manic or hypomanic episode. In time, that results in not only a crash, but often a growing sense of "Meds don't work for me."

The answer, then, is to find a working mood stabilizer to...*drum roll*...stabilize the moods! Fancy!


THE UNKNOWN

Sadly, for all that is known about bipolar illness, there is ultimately a great deal left to learn. I can't help but be frustrated at how often I come up with "We don't know yet..." as the answer for questions...even for such simple questions as "Why does this medicine work?" I can only hope to see better advances as I age.

Also, Mike tells me that "But there were sharks" is a good conclusion.

So.

"But there were sharks."

Edited by: pd Rydia&nbsp; Image at: 2/21/05 20:06

FlamingDeth
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Re: MegaTokyo YAOI

Unread postby FlamingDeth » Mon Feb 21, 2005 6:19 pm

Enlightening! <p>
<hr width="70%"><center>
This month's "Transformer of the Month" is Grimlock in a Santa hat! He's quite jolly.</center></p>Edited by: [url=http://p068.ezboard.com/brpgww60462.showUserPublicProfile?gid=flamingdeth>FlamingDeth</A] at: 2/21/05 21:20

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Jak Snide
 
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Re: Sharks!

Unread postby Jak Snide » Mon Feb 21, 2005 10:00 pm

Wow

Edited by: Jak Snide&nbsp; Image at: 2/21/05 22:00

Uncle Pervy
 

Re: Sharks!

Unread postby Uncle Pervy » Thu Feb 24, 2005 12:21 am

Hey I recall this thing.

WRF are this shit account assstacker? <p>---------------------------

Your are not supposed to be reading this!</p>

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Spleen
I put a BOMB inside EVERY BAD GUY!
 
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Re: Sharks!

Unread postby Spleen » Sat Mar 05, 2005 10:42 am

Wait...there were sharks? <p>__-__-__-__-__-__

"I'm just a guy with a boomerang. I didn't ask for all this flying, and this magic..."
-Sokka, Avatar

"Screw normal, because if you're normal, the crowd will accept you, but if you're deranged, the crowd will make you their leader."
-Christopher Titus</p>Edited by: [url=http://p068.ezboard.com/brpgww60462.showUserPublicProfile?gid=spleeninfinity13>SpleenInfinity13</A]&nbsp; Image at: 3/5/05 10:43


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