Bipolar Medications

Essay # 58317

Psychology
Psychology > Disorders
Psychology > Therapies

Bipolar Medications

Simple explanations of how the top medications used to treat bipolar disorder affect the brain.

1,347 words () | 7 sources | MLA | 2005 United States

Paper Summary:

This paper is an explanation of the condition known as bipolar disorder and how it can be treated medically. It looks at the different types of medication and their methods. This paper breaks down the pharmacological jargon and explains it to readers in simple terminology.

From the Paper:

""Bipolar disorder, or manic-depressive disorder, is a mood disorder in which people experience alternating episodes of mania and major depression ("Bipolar"). " In the early 1900s, Emil Kraeplin, a German psychiatrist, was the first to formally recognize this condition he called manic depression ("Bipolar"). At that time treatment for mental illness was very poor. Fortunately, within the last twenty years, many effective medications for the treatment of bipolar disorder have become available. Bipolar disorder is caused by imbalances of chemicals, called neurotransmitters, in the brain. The imbalance is quite possibly a genetic defect. The key to effectively treating bipolar disorder (an incurable disorder) is reestablishing the normal balance of the brain's neurotransmitters (Rodgers). These new effective drugs are the most popular treatment to maintaining a "normal" life while affected by bipolar disorder. Medications like lithium carbonate, risperdone, fluoxetine, and alprazolam help treat bipolar disorder by altering the balance of one's neurotransmitters."