Definition
- Credo Reference-Bipolar DisorderBipolar disorder, also known as manic-depressive disorder, is a type of mood disorder, which occurs in approximately 1% of the population. This rate of occurrence is consistent across groups of diverse ethnicity and culture. In general, bipolar disorder is a long-term illness with an episodic and variable course. Unlike major depressive disorder that is significantly more common in women, the occurrence of bipolar disorder is equally common in men and women. Bipolar disorder is characterized by the presence of mania, or a manic episode, defined as a period of abnormal, persistently elevated, expansive, or irritable mood. An individual need only have one manic episode to fit lifetime diagnostic criteria for bipolar disorder.
Online Resources
- NIMH-Bipolar DisordersBipolar disorder (formerly called manic-depressive illness or manic depression) is a mental disorder that causes unusual shifts in mood, energy, activity levels, concentration, and the ability to carry out day-to-day tasks.
- Mental Health.gov-Bipolar DisorderBipolar disorder is a serious mental illness. People who have it go through unusual mood changes. They go from very happy, "up," and active to very sad and hopeless, "down," and inactive, and then back again. They often have normal moods in between. The up feeling is called mania. The down feeling is depression.
- MedlinePlus-Bipolar DisorderInformation on Bipolar Disorder from MedlinePlus.
Streaming Media
- Bipolar DisorderBipolar Disorder, formerly known as manic depression, is an illness that affects brain function. It causes extreme moods. People with Bipolar Disorder can become high, over-excited and reckless, or imagine that they are more important than they are. They can also become very low, feeling helpless and depressed, with difficulty making decisions or concentrating.
- Bipolarized: Rethinking Mental IllnessMillions of Americans every year are diagnosed with a serious mental illness and prescribed drugs as the standard treatment. But are these diagnoses always correct? And are drugs the only or best way to treat their symptoms?
- Finding Balance in BipolarEllen Forney is a passionate storyteller and artist who turned her bipolar diagnosis into a platform of hope for anyone struggling with mental health issues. In this moving and generous talk, Ellen uses both words and pictures — her own comics —to share the story of how she maintained her creativity while managing her illness and shares the system she developed for achieving balance and keeping it.
- Tell Me About Bipolar DisorderLearn the basics about bipolar disorder and where to find support. To find out more information visit nami.org/bipolar.
Books
Living with Bipolar Disorder
Living with Bipolar Disorder is designed to help patients and their families develop the skills they need to be good consumers of treatment and to become expert partners in the management of this challenging disorder. Drawing on research documenting the strength of combining drug treatments with behavioral interventions for fighting bipolar disorder, the authors of this book take a skill-based, family-and-friends approach to managing the ups and downs commonly experienced with bipolar disorder. Readers will learn how to better recognize mood shifts before they happen, minimize their impact, and move on with their lives. Family members will learn how to recognize potential problems, provide encouragement, practice new coping skills, and understand what a loved one is going through. Living with Bipolar Disorder provides worksheets and forms to help readers reinforce skills and practices learned in therapy, as well as useful information about the details of living with bipolar disorder, advice on the best ways to avoid relapses, and strategies for anticipating problems.
Bipolar Disorder
This text discusses options for diagnosis and treatment on bipolar disorder's genetic components, and provides treatment options, including the advantages, disadvantages, and side effects of various drug therapies.
Pediatric Bipolar Disorder
Despite the fact that much evidence exists to prove that bipolar disorder effects a large amount of children, during the past century doctors have been very reluctant to diagnose bipolar disorder (BPD) before adulthood. In contemporary times, the bias against diagnosing bipolar disorder in youth has been perpetuated by the lack of agreed upon diagnostic criteria that accurately characterise the condition as it typically exists in childhood. As observed by a number of contributors to this volume, this bias extended to birth cohort studies around the world in that instruments designed to detect mania or bipolar disorder were almost never or rarely applied. In the US, the continued use of unmodified DSM-IV criteria to diagnose prepubertal-onset BPD has only recently been tempered by the knowledge that these criteria were developed based solely on observations in adult studies. While the diagnosis of bipolar disorder in childhood still remains the subject of some controversy, today, thankfully, the controversy has shifted from a debate about whether it can be diagnosed to how it is diagnosed. There is now a general consensus among clinicians and researchers all over the world that bipolar disorder does exist in youth and is associated with significant morbidity and mortality; however, the developmental continuity of prepubertal mania with adult bipolar disorder remains yet undetermined and we know very little and are still in great need to learn more about epidemiology, etiology, phenomenology, and treatment of this condition.
The Treatment of Bipolar Disorder in Pastoral Counseling
Learn how religion can help in treating those suffering from bipolar disorder The Treatment of Bipolar Disorder in Pastoral Counseling introduces a new treatment model based on Quaker ideas and practices that can be used in conjunction with medical and psychological practice for treating manic-depressive illness. This unique book examines the interplay between religion and psychoanalysis, using the latest research on the importance of silence, prayer, and meditation in psychotherapy, the role of community in healing, and the problem of God and suffering. The book includes clinical examples from the author's counseling practice, case studies of bipolar clients, and an extensive bibliography of materials on this crippling disorder that affects more than two million American adults. With its multidisciplinary approach, pastoral counseling may be the most effective psychotherapy for use with medical and pharmacological treatments. Pastoral counselors can gain valuable insights from psychodynamic, cognitive-behavioral, learning, and family systems theories for a more complete understanding of their clients. The Treatment of Bipolar Disorder in Pastoral Counseling examines current understandings of the disorder, including the effects, advantages, and disadvantages of medications, genetic factors, and the search for a "mood gene," and looks at current treatment approaches, including object relations, psychoeducational, and narrative psychology.
Bipolar Disorder
Arguing that bipolar disorder strongly affects the functioning of families and marriages, and, in turn, that family functioning affects the course of bipolar disorder, this accessible book details a unique family-focused psychoeducational treatment approach. This 9-month outpatient program teaches patients and families to understand manic-depression and to communicate and solve practical problems related to the illness. The authors present a complete treatment manual, grounded in extensive research, that guides clinicians step-by-step from assessment to termination. Throughout, the book's utility is enhanced by clinical case material, session vignettes, and reproducible client handouts.* *NOTE ABOUT PHOTOCOPY RIGHTS: The publisher grants to individual purchasers of this book nonassignable permission to reproduce most handouts in this book for clinical use. See copyright page for details.