Bipolar Disorder: An Overview

Essay # 58361

Psychology > Disorders
Psychology > Therapies

A paper on bipolar disorder.

2,296 words () | 8 sources | APA | 2005 United States

Paper Summary:

This paper focuses primarily on bipolar disorder, but includes a general look at other associated disorders. The paper describes the classes of bipolar disorder, how to properly diagnose the disorder, characteristics of bipolar disorder, treatment for the illness, and the prognosis for someone with diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

Introduction
Diagnosis
Characteristics
Prognosis
Conclusion

From the Paper:

"Generally speaking, bipolar disorder can be understood somewhat through its history of being called manic-depression. Individuals who have bipolar disorder go through different periods of moods that are dictated by time. At one point, they may seem to be in a deep depression and exhibit most or all of the symptoms of depressive
disorder. Then, at another point, the same individual may exhibit none of these depressive symptoms, and seem to be overly elevated in their mood and behaviors, seeming overly euphoric or like they have an excess of energy that is quite a contrast to the low energy levels observed during the depressive episode. Because of this, there are
also some links between bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, but the two disorders should not be confused. "In bipolar disorder, episodes of minor to severe depression and episodes of hypomania or mania occur over a course of time."