Bipolar Disorder:Wellness Paper The aspect of bipolar disorder has been a mystery since It was rumored that Vincent Van Goughsuffered from bipolar disorder. There is a large group ofpeople suffering from this disorder, however there are nocauses or cures for it. Bipolar disorder impairs onesability to obtain and sustain social and occupationalsuccess. The journey for even a cause will continue formany years to come. Affective disorders are characterizedby a depressed mood, an elevated mood or an alternation ofdepressed and elevated moods. The basic term for themanic-depressive illness is Bipolar disorder. There aremilder and heavier forms of each. A patient can be placed in two different categories of this disorder: dysthymicdisorder and cyclothymic disorder depending on how strongthe symptoms are with each individual patient. The use ofthe term primary affective disorder refers to theindividuals who had no previous psychiatric disorders orelse only episodes of mania or depression. Secondaryaffective disorder refers to patients with preexistingpsychiatric illness other than depression or mania(Goodwin, Guze. 1989, p.7 ). Bipolar affective disorder affects around 1% or threemillion people in the United States. Both males and femalescan become a victim of this disorder. Bipolar disorderinvolves episodes of mania and depression. The manicepisodes are characterized by elevated or irritable mood,increased energy, decreased need for sleep, poor judgmentand insight, and often reckless or irresponsible behavior(Hollandsworth, Jr. 1990 ). These episodes can alternate with heavy depressionscharacterized with complete sadness with almost an inabilityto move, hopelessness, and agitation in appetite, sleep andmakes is hard to concentrate while driving. Bipolar disorder is diagnosed if an episode of mania occurswhether depression has been diagnosed or not (Goodwin,Guze, 1989, p 11). The common symptoms for a manicdepressive episode consis...
