Complex Integrated Psychiatric Disorders

“Bipolar disorder, also commonly known as manic depression, is defined as a serious mental illness in which common emotions become intensely and often unpredictably magnified. Individuals with bipolar disorder can quickly alternate from extremes of happiness, energy and clarity to sadness, fatigue and confusion. All people with bipolar disorder have manic episodes abnormally elevated or irritable moods that last at least a week and impair functioning. But not all become depressed ” (American Psychological Association, 2015). Bipolar disorder can vary in each individual. The symptoms fluctuate in pattern, severity and rate of recurrence. Some people are more susceptible to either mania or depression, while others change proportionately between the two types of episodes. Some have frequent mood disruptions, while others live through a few throughout their lifetime.

A major depressive episode is not a disorder in itself, but rather more of a description or symptoms of part of a disorder most often depressive disorder or bipolar. A person suffering from a major depressive episode must have a depressed mood or a loss of interest in daily activities consistently for a minimum of a two-week time span (Psych Central, 2013). In diagnosing the mood must reflect a change from the person’s normal mood. A person’s daily activities and functions, such as work, social routines and friends, education, family, and relationships must also have been negatively impacted by the change in their mood. A major depressive episode is also identified by presence of five or more of the following symptoms. The patient can show signs of significant weight loss or weight gain even not dieting or trying to lose or gain weight. The patient will also display a change in appetite almost everyday, either with an increase or a decrease in their normal eating habits. The weight change is typically set at an increase or decrease in weight of more than 5% per month. The patient will display a depressed mood almost the entire day and this sadness, emptiness, loneliness, crying, and distant is observed by others or indicted by the patient, is typically

Ever felt extremely happy one day and terribly depressed the next, as if you were on an emotional roller coaster? How about spontaneously spending $5,000 on a shopping spree that you have no use for? Imagine being so depressed that you want to commit suicide because dinner was not the meal you had in mind. Each of these actions may seem completely farfetched to the average person; however, actions similar to these are a reality for nearly 5.8 million adults in the United States that suffer from an illness called bipolar disorder. Bipolar disorder, historically referred to as manic depressive illness, is an

In a question and answer on the “Myths and Realities about Bipolar Disorder” Dr. Youngstrom a professor of psychology/psychiatry at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and acting director of the Center of Excellence for Research and Treatment of Bipolar Disorder says, “bipolar disorder is about a third as common as depression and less than half as common as attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder in youths, but about twice as common as autistic spectrum disorders (Youngstrom, 2012).” In the United States about three percent or about five point seven

Between the ages 16-24, approximately 3.2% of males and 3.6% females have had bipolar disorder.

It has been said that people do not use drugs to feel good, but that they use them to avoid feeling bad. Regardless of anyone’s opinions on drug abuse, this concept holds a lot of truth in regards to substance abuse in those with bipolar disorder. Many times this abuse is referred to as “self-medicating”. This means the use of medicine (or drugs) without medical supervision to treat one’s own ailment. While self-medicating can be healthy, like taking pain killer for a headache, it can also be detrimental to someone’s health as many drugs have nasty side effects. Self-medicating can relieve psychological symptoms, but many people with bipolar end up abusing substances more often than those without it. In both manic and depressive states somebody with bipolar may be motivated to use. Someone in a manic state may be more impulsive, and feel invulnerable, inclining them to take illicit substance. Someone who is depressive may use to escape their feelings. Using illicit substances and finding pleasure or short-term symptom alleviation has, many times, lead to addiction or a substance abuse disorder. Bipolar disorder and substance abuse disorder are considered separate mental illnesses, but research has found a strong comorbidity between the two.

“Bipolar disorder affects approximately 5.7 million adult Americans, or about 2.6% of the U.S. population age 18 and older every year.” (National Institute of Mental Health)

In the US, more than three million people have bipolar disorder. It can come at any age, but usually appears in the

Bipolar and related disorders are lifelong perplexing mental illnesses that are difficult to diagnose and treat. Bipolar illness is a chronic shifting of extreme euphoria (mania) and deep sadness or hopelessness (depressive) episodes, complicated by comorbidities and the potential for poor health outcomes. The occurrence of bipolar disorder (BD) throughout the adult population in the United States is reported to be approximately 5.7 million people each year, with a lifetime prevalence of 3.9 percent. (National Institute of Mental Health)

The “unusual shifts in mood” are typically classified into mood episodes that can range from mania, hypomania, and depression (Ciccarelli and White 553). The mood episodes experienced are typically dependent on whether bipolar I or bipolar II disorder is diagnosed. Bipolar I disorder is characterized by episodes alternating between mania and (sometimes) depression. Bipolar II, one the other hand, is characterized by alternating episodes of hypomania and depression. Despite their differences, both bipolar I and II can have immense effects on someone’s

A psychological disorder is defined as “a condition in which a person 's thoughts, feelings, or behavior are thought to be in some way dysfunctional” (Sullivan, 2009, p. 415). One such mental illness is Bipolar Disorder (BD) formally know as manic depression. Individuals suffering from BD experience “mood swings that alternate between periods of elevated or euphoric mood (manic episodes) and periods of depression” (Sullivan, 2009, p. 50). In the following case study, we will examine the case of Scoter, who suffers from bipolar disorder and two significant comorbidities. Further, this study will examine Scoter’s presenting problems and issues followed by the exploration of medical approaches used in treating BD, and the opportunity for