A new study published in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry suggests that people with bipolar disorder whose symptoms began in childhood have a worse prognosis with their bipolar as adults.  It also suggests that the earlier in life a person's bipolar symptoms appear, and the longer the disorder goes untreated and undiagnosed, the more severe the disorder seems to be throughout their life.

Every day of my life, the image of my best friend from college laying in his bed dead from a self inflicted gunshot wound to the head haunts me. The image of his sister opening his bedroom door to find him lying in a pool of his own blood is unshakeable. I always think about what her face must have looked like, what thoughts were going through her mind, how she felt and how she and his family feel now.

The mental disorder of depressive bipolar can cause disruptions in health and lifestyle during its acute manic episode. Bipolar personality disorder is basically the mood swings or mood disorder which triggers alterations in thinking and attitude. The bipolar disorder was once called the manic disorder and is a psychiatric disease. 

 

Parenting, as every parent will agree is a challenging task. It is always mixed with anxiety and joy. If you are parents of a bipolar child, then you will have mixed emotions for a lifetime as your child grows up. Raising such a child often seems to be an insurmountable task.

Bipolar disorder or manic- depressive illness is a major brain illness. Children suffering from this disorder generally experience unusual mood swings. There will be times when bipolar children will feel extremely happy and more active than normal. This state is called the state of mania. There are also times when bipolar children feel sad and show no interest in anything. This state is called  the state of depression. This illness can seriously damage the performance of children in school and create rifts with their friends.

The main feature of bipolar symptoms is the occurrence of frequent mood swings. These mood swings can occur over a period of time.  Generally, one mood episode lasts from a few days to a month. The bipolar symptoms differ in accordance with the state that the person is experiencing. According to the American Psychiatric Association, the bipolar symptoms consist of the occurrence of a manic state and a mixed episode followed by a depression episode. There are several characteristic features and bipolar symptoms associated with each of these states.

Bipolar test essentially involves an examination conducted by a psychiatrist who asks several questions about the history, the signs, symptoms and other relevant behavioral questions which needs to be answered by the patient. The bipolar test is even conducted on family members and friends of the person to ascertain the behavior of the person suffering from bipolar disorder. Bipolar disorder is not an easy disorder to diagnose and hence, the bipolar test might seem a bit complicated. The questions help the psychiatrist determine if the person is actually suffering from the disorder.

Being a parent to any child is a difficult responsibility any way you look at it; however, supporting a child with bipolar disorder is even more difficult.  This child has needs that other children do not have.

I know that anger is a huge problem for people dealing with bipolar disorder.  How do I know?  Not just because I'm a supporter myself or because my mom has it, but because I get TONS of emails on just this subject.

Bipolar illness (or manic depression) is a neurobiological, hereditary chemical imbalance of the brain. Thirty percent of all children born to a couple where one parent has the illness also are born bipolar. If both parents suffer from it, there is a sixty percent chance that their children will inherit the illness.