Bipolar disorder

Bipolar disorder

Bipolar disorder (manic-depressive psychosis) - a mental illness of endogenous nature, manifested a change of mood phases, manic, depressive. In some cases, bipolar depression occurs in a variety of options for mixed states, which are characterized by rapid change of manic and depressive symptoms, or the symptoms of depression and mania at the same buy seroquel online time clearly expressed (eg: melancholy mood, combined with strong agitation, mental retardation with euphoria).

Individual episodes (phase) of bipolar disorder follow immediately after each other, or are manifested through the "light" gap in the mental state of the individual, referred to as the intermission (or interphase). This asymptomatic period proceeds to a total or partial renewal of mental functions, with the recovery of personal qualities and individual features of the patient's character. Numerous scientific studies have identified in 75% of patients BAR presence of other comorbid psychiatric pathologies, in most cases - anxiety and phobic disorders.

The study of manic-depressive psychosis, as an independent nosological units performed in the second half of the 19th century. For the first time the disease has been described as circular psychosis, later interpreted as "mental insanity in two phases." With the introduction of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10) in 1993, it renamed the disease in a more correct and reflects the essence of the scientific name - bipolar affective disorder. However, to this day, psychiatry is not a single definition and understanding of the research confirmed the likely boundaries of the clinical depression due to severe heterogeneity (the presence of completely opposite parts of the structure) of the disease.

Currently, the medical environment for the classification of a particular type of disorder justified using the projected differentiation clinical development. The division is carried out on the basis of factors that indicate a predominance of one or another phase of affective disorders: unipolar form (manic or depressive) bipolar view of the predominance of either manic or depressive episodes, clearly bipolar form with approximately equal manifestations of the states.

It is difficult to estimate the true prevalence of bipolar depression because of a variety of criteria for its diagnosis. However, analyzing the various sources, both domestic and foreign research suggests that, even with conservative approach to the criteria of pathology, bipolar disorder suffer from 5 to 8 people from 1000. Moreover, the percentage of ill people is about the same among men and among women. It is also not observed significant dependence among people suffering from the disorder, of being in a particular age group, social status, membership of a particular ethnic group. According to WHO, the probability for a life ill bipolar depression is between 2 and 4%, with the debut of the disease in 47% of patients diagnosed with BAR between the ages of 25 to 45 years. Scientific studies have found that bipolar disorder kind develops, usually under the age of 30 years, unipolar form - after a thirty-year threshold and depressive phases prevail in those who turned 50-year milestone.

Bipolar Depression: Causes

To date, certain it is not installed and not fully explored the possible causes of bipolar disorder, but confirmed some scientific hypotheses. Among the theories most likely factors in the formation of the pathology are: genetic inheritance (predisposition) and neurochemical processes in the body. Thus, the disease can be triggered by disturbances in the metabolism of biogenic amines, abnormalities in the endocrine system, circadian rhythms disorder, a failure in the water-salt metabolism. On the probability of the development of the BAR is also influenced by the specificity of the flow of children's period and constitutional features of an individual organism. Accumulated scientific evidence showed that the proportion of genetic factors in the formation of mental pathology reaches 75%, while the contribution of the "environment" does not exceed 25%.

Factor 1. Genetic predisposition

The mechanism of transmission of predisposition to the disorder is not fully understood, but there is scientific evidence indicating the hereditary transmission of the disease by a single dominant gene with partial penetration, coupled with the X-chromosome. Another genetic marker for affective disorders is G6PD deficiency (cytosolic enzyme glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase).

Genetic research by mapping (determining locations of different polymorphic regions of the genome) have shown a high risk (75%) inheritance of bipolar disorder in family history. The genetic predisposition to the development of disease in the offspring (over 50%) was confirmed during the research carried out at Stanford, even in cases where one of the parents suffers from this disease.

Factor 2. Features children's period

From the inner circle of education and conditions related to the child plays an important role in the mental sphere formed features. All carried out in this segment of the study confirmed that the vast majority of children living with parents with mental pathologies, there is a considerable risk of the bar future. Long stay of the child with persons prone to intense and unpredictable mood swings, suffer from alcohol or drug addiction, sexually and emotionally unrestrained - the strongest chronic stress, fraught with the formation of affective states.

Factor 3. Age of parents

The results obtained in the course of modern scientific works "Archives of psychotherapy", showed that children born (over 45 years), middle-aged parents have a significantly greater risk of developing mental disorders, including bipolar depression.

4. Gender Factor

According to current data types unipolar affective disorders often develop in women, and more likely to suffer a bipolar form of the stronger sex. It was found that the debut of manic-depressive psychosis in women often have to menstruation, when entering the menopausal phase may occur later or be provoked by post-natal depression. Any content psychiatric episode of endogenous nature (associated with changes in hormonal background) increases the risk of BAR 4 times. In a special risk group - women who in the past 15 years suffered from some form of mental disorder and treated with psychotropic drugs.

Factor 5. Characteristic features of the person

Well studied the facts that establish a direct relationship of affective disorders with features of mental activity of the individual. The risk group includes persons melancholic, asthenic, depressive, statotimicheskoy constitution. Many reputable experts indicate that traits such as accented responsibility, meticulousness, inflated demands on their personality, integrity, diligence, acting as predominating factors of life personality, combined with emotional lability background, are the ideal ground for BAR. Also predisposed to bipolar disorder face a deficiency of mental activity - subjects who have no personal resources needed to meet basic (life support) requirements for the production and subsequent achievement of the objectives in order to achieve well-being (in the conscious human value).

Bipolar depression: symptoms

It is impossible to predict with any number of phases of nature manifest bipolar disorder in this patient: the disease can occur and one single episode, or occur under various schemes. The illness may exhibit extremely manic or depressive states, manifest their regular or irregular change.

The duration of a separate phase when intermittent variant disease may vary over a wide time range: from 2-3 weeks to 1.5-2 years (an average of 3 to 7 months). Typically, manic phase lasts three times shorter than a depressive episode. The duration of intermission can vary from 2 to 7 years; while "light" segment - interphase some patients non-existent.

Possible atypical variant of the disease in the form of incomplete disclosure phase disproportionately core indicators, joining obsessional symptoms, hypochondriasis, senestopatii and paranoid, hallucinatory, catatonic syndromes.

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