Research paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Research paper - Essay Example Type III, commonly called Cyclothymia, is a less severe form of this condition. The person undergoes cycles of mild mania and/or depression. At times, when undetected, it could progress to either the type I or II variant. Bipolar disorder is a chronic illness and it significantly affects the lifestyle of the patient on a social and professional basis, and quite often impairs their cognitive functioning. Depression is the phase of BD that represents the greatest challenge in management of the disorder. Undetected or prolonged depression and delirium is a frequent cause of suicide, and thus it is imperative that this condition be dealt with sensitively. The depression: mania ratio in bipolar disorder is 1:3, which tells us that the patient spends more time in an all-time low (Galvez, Thommi, & Ghaemi, 2011) . Heredity and Statistics: The possibility of inheriting BD from a previously diagnosed parent is 86-90% and studies over the past 11 years have shown that 9% of unipolar depressive patients were diagnosed as having BD. The suicide rate in these patients is almost 17 times higher, as compared to the general healthy adult population (Rapoport, Basselin, Kim, & Rao, 2009). In addition to being a social burden, BD has equal implications on personal finances and world economy. Within the USA itself, the treatment regimen spans from $12000 for a single episode of this syndrome, to a whopping $62K for patients who have to be aggressively managed with drugs and other therapy. Typically, symptoms of BD appear by the average age of 22 years, but are recognized and diagnosed with a lag period of almost 10 years. Even after commencement of therapy, the subject may remain symptomatic for a significant period of time, which makes it essential to continually monitor and adjust the treatment protocol (Nivoli et al., 2011). It has been reported that more than 66% of patients have a minimum of one close relative that has been diagnosed with either unipolar or bipolar depressio n, thus linking it to heredity (Nivoli et al., 2011). Characteristics and symptoms of people with Bipolar Disorder: Symptoms of varying degrees and intensities can be observed in this syndrome. The most common observation in Type I BD is extreme mood fluctuations. The highs include excitement, overly enthusiastic behavior, boundless energy, megalomaniac tendencies, generous thoughts and a surge in confidence levels. The lows that one typically experiences are prolonged periods of depression, irritability, sleep deprivation and a general feeling of loneliness, often accompanied by phases of crying for trivial or no apparent reasons. It is very common to have feelings of being incomplete, inadequate and worthless, which eventually culminates into thoughts and ideas of suicide. The hallmark of this disorder is the frequent cycling between the high and lows, namely the mania and depression, by virtue of which this disorder is detected. Social Challenges: Needless to mention, social stig ma is commonly encountered by people, who are aware and informed that they are suffering from this syndrome. Such subjects consciously modify their behavior, in order to reduce the instances of being rejected or discriminated. In the mild to moderate symptoms in Type