Mental Disorder Analysis

In pop culture Bipolar Disorder is described as someone quickly switching emotions. The term gets flown around easily without evidence of the alleged diagnosis. This publication changed my perspective on mental illness due to always hearing society's opinion on the phrase. Kay’s experience shows an individual who suffered tremendously behind doors that no one else could relate to, having episodes last days to months not switching every minute like society's stereotypes. It is obvious that there is not control and while medication helps, there is a significant consequence when missing treatment. Additionally, material learned within this book can help fundamentally determine someone suffering this illness. For example, if someone has manic highs and lows that force them to change their daily lifestyle for a period of time and developes changing impulsive decisions there could be an underlying illness. Even though there are few details that can fall into the category of Bipolar, it is still rare and unless diagnosed by a doctor one should never jump to conclusions about another

Many terms and concepts are commonly associated with mental illness. the topic of mental illness has many overlapping and subset definitions. Mental illness, a term that encompasses a wide range of mental disorders, contains subcategories of mental disorders distinguishable by effects on a person's behavior, thinking, and mood. Disorders are the most commonly referred to an aspect of mental illness; types of disorders are schizophrenia, anxiety, and depression. Syndromes, even more, specific than disorders, pertain to particular systems within subcategories of disorders and are identifiable by distinct symptoms, mental or physical markers expressed by a disease; examples of syndromes are an obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and post-traumatic stress disorder

Manic depression disorder, more commonly known today as bipolar disorder, is a mental illness that can affect any age, race, or gender. It is not prejudiced, and has a grim prognosis if the symptoms are not treated or controlled in some fashion. Bipolar disorder is, by Boris Birmaher as the presence of recurrent episodes of mania or hypomania with and without episodes of depression (Birmaher, 2013). As explained by Hockenbury and Hockenbury, a manic episode can be sudden and escalates the emotional state of the individual causing them to have extreme euphoria, as well as more excitement, physical energy, and a more rapid thought and speech process. A depressive episode can also come on suddenly and leaves the individual in a lost state, where they are tired, and no longer find enjoyment from activities that they once loved and could lead to suicidal thoughts or actions (Hockenbury & Hockenbury, 2014). A person does not mentally mature fully until about the age of 25. Meaning that a 25 year old has different brain processes than a 10 year old. Because of this, there have been many studies conducted on the controversy between whether or not bipolar disorder should be diagnosed in children and adolescents.

The main purpose of the ensuing evaluation is to determine if Ms. Tyler is competent to stand trial for accused crimes, and needs to be evaluated for criminal responsibility. She exhibits signs of mental illness; further investigation via a mental status assessment is required.

I am writing you in regards to my psychiatric evaluation of the above-named individual, conducted at Sweetwater Home Board and Care on November 5, 2012.

Ellen Waters meets criteria for a diagnosis of Bipolar II Disorder (296.89), current episode depressed with atypical features, mild severity. There are several things in her case that make this diagnosis clear. She reports chronic depression throughout her life, but she also describes “highs” consisting of elevated mood lasting for several months at a time during which she functions on little sleep and gets a lot done, runs up high telephones bills talking to people, and experiences racing thoughts. Additionally, she reports that her friends have obviously concerned about her abrupt changes of behavior from her depressive norm, and would often tell her that she needed to slow down or calm down. All of these are consistent with hypomania and she lacks some of the hallmarks of mania—she is still able to function at work and socially for the most part, she has not needed to be hospitalized as a result of her “highs” and she has not experienced any psychosis—thus ruling out a Bipolar I diagnosis. She is currently experiencing a depressed mood and panic attacks, which is the reason why she has been referred for treatment. She states that she was depressed for most of the month prior to this visit.

She knew that something was wrong when she would go through the dark moods and the highs but didn’t want to accept the fact that it could be because of a mental illness. Also there came a time where she went almost a year without going through her mood swings, so this pushed the thoughts of mental illness right out of her head. When she finally sought out for help, she was put on lithium to try and treat her disorder. Although the lithium helped her, taking the medicine didn’t last long; she refused to continue taking it because she thought she would be okay without it. Many people that experience manic-depressive illness go through the same thing with taking medication. “Some authors have noted that motivation for adherence in bipolar disorder may be diminished by the hedonic pleasure associated with some manic episodes (e.g., Cochrane, 1982).” (Greenhouse, 2000) She never questioned herself because she didn’t want there to be something wrong with her and she knew telling people would be hard. Not many people knew about her illness after she came to realization because she was afraid of what they would

Bipolar disorder can be severe and long-term or it can be mild with infrequent episodes. People who suffer from this illness may experience symptoms in very different ways and on average will have 8-10 manic or depressive episodes over a lifetime (Simon, 2013). As Kay put it, “manic-depression distorts moods and thoughts, incites dreadful behaviors, destroys the basis of rational thought, and too often erodes the desire and will to live” (Jamison, 1995). Kay experienced very severe symptoms of bipolar disorder, including extremes changes in energy, mood, activity, sleep, behavior, and a suicide attempt, which all can be defining characteristic of the disorder. These symptoms can causes alcohol or substance abuse, relationship problems, and/or difficulty to perform in school or work (Townsend, 2014). However, bipolar disorder can be treated and people with this illness can live a full, productive life. For Kay she was able to control her manic highs and depressive lows with medication and therapy so she could continue her education and career.

This semester consisted of four projects. Communication, stress, personality, and psychological disorders projects. While working on these projects I discovered new and old information about myself. I agreed with a majority of the results from the projects. The only project I did not entirely agree with was the psychological disorders project. I don’t believe I am bipolar, and the test claimed that I was. I also believe I have OCD, because I like everything organized and clean at all times. I was shocked when the test results explained that I don’t show any signs of OCD. Although I did not fully agree with the results from the psychological disorders project, I learned a lot.

Before I truly understood Bipolar disorder, it was still a fairly common word in my vocabulary. Anytime I thought someone was being moody or fluctuating between emotions, I joked by claiming that person to be bipolar. Several incidents of this involved one of my roommates who seemed to be happy one day, and quite the polar opposite the next. However, it was not until my clinical experience on the psychiatric unit that I realized what true bipolar disorder was, and that she did not fit the criteria. Even though I always thought my roommate was bipolar, I quickly found after being exposed to a diagnosed bipolar patient that my roommate was instead just moody. I decided to write this paper on bipolar disorder, not because I have struggle with it or know a friend or family member with this disease, but because I had several misconceptions about what it entailed.

A Mental Status Exam is essential to providing an accurate treatment plan for patients. The structured assessment is designed accumulate client’s developmental, psychiatric, medical, and social history, and current symptoms (Sands & Gellis, 2012, p. 79) For example, the below scenario was taken from the Medical Transcription Sample Reports. The MSE depicts a detailed overall observation of the client and the client’s present state of cognizant. Although there are many forms of MSE documentations, each will list the following components: “descriptions of the patient's appearance and general behavior, level of consciousness and attentiveness, motor and speech activity, mood and affect, thought and perception, attitude and insight” (Walker, Hall, & Hurst, 1990). Some of these components inquires an observational process, in which the evaluator is

Pica; a disorder in which an individual craves or ingests items that have no nutritional content and are non edible substances. You often hear of people who decide to try to eat paper to see how it tastes, or who try dirt to see what the consistency is, this is not considered pica disorder. Pica is only labeled once these actions have occurred for over a month and generally at an age or in a mental state where it is considered developmentally inappropriate. Pica is almost always not started at random, it is

It is an essential stage in differentiating psychiatric from medical issues. Mental state examination, helping to assess the patient's general appearance, cognitive, perceptual pattern, thought process, psychomotor retardation and stereotypes, self injurious behaviour.

Bipolar Disorder is mental illness that includes severe high and low moods with changes in sleep, energy, thinking and behavior. Bipolar disorder is correlated with increased risk for substance-related disorders, weight problems, and impaired social support systems. Approximately one in every hundred people develop bipolar disorder. Kay Redfield Jamison reports that her manic depressive illness was a gradual progression wherein she found her mind and life accelerated. In the summer of July

"That..... doesn't pertain to the current subject, but I'll answer it anyway," Akaashi teacher says. Akaashi sighs in relief. "Bipolar depression, also known as bipolar disorder and manic-depressive illness, is a brain disorder which causes unusual and violent mood swings. An episode of the mood swings can last from a few days to a few months. Depending on the type of episode a person has, it can change energy levels, motivation levels, and the ability to carry out day-to-day tasks such as getting a bowl of cereal. Most of the time, the episodes range from manic -which symptoms include but are not limited to- high energy levels, recklessness, and racing thoughts- to depressive-which symptoms include but are not limited to- little energy, low motivation, and trouble sleeping. In same cases, the two different episodes can happen at once, causing the patient having them to become extremely agitated and hostile. This is more widely seen in abused children or children who have gone through extreme emotional trauma in some form or another, though."