Yes, the holidays are coming, as you can tell by all the Christmas decorations that have been up in stores since before Halloween!  So you are probably already feeling some nervousness or pre-holiday jitters concerning your loved one with bipolar disorder.

 

There is no reason that bipolar disorder should stop you from enjoying the holidays the same as anyone else.  You just may have to do some extra planning.

 

Treatment for bipolar disorder primarily consists of medication and therapy.  Through therapy, you can discuss the issues surrounding the disorder, and any other bipolar problems you may have.  However, you should not ignore what is right in front of your face, as some people do. 

Are demons real in you?  Your religious leader might think so.  He, and other fellow church members might even accuse you of "entertaining familiar spirits," or having demons in you, and claim that the Bible tells them so.  They may even try to cast these spirits or demons out of you!  No matter how much you try to explain to them that research shows that bipolar disorder has been around since the second century, when (although it wasn't called bipolar disorder yet) it was first recognized as some type of a mental illness.

Christian churches generally dispute mental illnesses, and bipolar disorder is no different.  They readily accept physical disabilities, but bipolar disorder isn't a "physical disability" in the normal sense of the word – it is more of an "emotional disability," hidden as it is from the outside world – and the church wrestles with acceptance of people who have this mental disorder.

So many times we hear that there is no cure for bipolar disorder.  That is, we hear that there is no medical cure for the disorder.  As far as a miracle cure, we hear that all the time, from religious leaders to the "miracle cures" touted on the Internet, most of which are scams.  Is there a way, then, of curing yourself of bipolar disorder?

Have you ever asked yourself, "Is my bipolar disorder my fault?"  Maybe you have a supporter who has wondered if your bipolar disorder is your own fault.  If you have experienced this, then you are not alone.  Many people with bipolar disorder and their supporters have pondered this same thought.

Did you know that 25% of Americans will suffer a diagnosable mental illness this year?  That's 1 in 4 people!  Mental illness disables the lives of nearly 60 million Americans each year, making it the leading disability for people aged 15 to 44. In addition, 4.4% of our population is diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

Bipolar Disorder involves a chemical imbalance in the brain which causes extreme mood swings, the major characteristic of the disorder, so severe and extreme sometimes that it even affects the person’s ability to function. These mood swings are called manic episodes and depressive episodes.

Bipolar Disorder is caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain which causes extreme mood swings, sometimes so severe that they can affect your ability to function. Bipolar episodes are either manic (high) or depressive (low) episodes.

There is no blood test, to date, that can diagnose Bipolar Disorder. However, in the science magazine "New Scientist," it was reported in the February 5, 2005 issue that a new blood test was being developed in a genetics journal, the American Journal of Medical Genetics.