Introduction
There is a range of mental disorders that may interfere with the process of understanding events and reacting to them based on the peculiarities of a particular situation. Among the most common mental disorders that have a negative impact on the quality of life of patients make they disconnected from the community, there is a bipolar disorder that remains one of the leading causes of suicide and self-inflicted injuries in people of different ages.
Considering the need to improve the situation and prevent these consequences, future nurse practitioners need to be aware of the disorder and the ways to reduce the suffering of patients and their relatives. Therefore, the given research paper aims at reviewing and summarizing the information on symptoms of bipolar disorder, its possible causes, and the ways to improve the mental state of patients.
Symptoms of Bipolar Disorder
Bipolar disorder is known as one of the diseases that are characterized by the constant change of two opposite mental states. Various effective states which are denoted as the periods of mania and depression are manifested in the behavior of patients with bipolar disorder (Grande, Berk, Birmaher, & Vieta, 2016). It also needs to be added that the strong contrast between these states often acts as an additional factor encouraging patients to commit inappropriate or harmful actions to calm down and relieve stress.
The presence of periods of mania is regarded as one of the most obvious symptoms of bipolar disorder. To begin with, the manic phase occurs when a patient has an elevated mood. Importantly, a patient with bipolar disorder does not need specific reasons to feel good or bad, the mood seems to change beyond his or her will. Another sign that indicates the manic phase of the disease is an increased motion activity caused by emotional excitement.
During that stage, a patient may demonstrate uncontrolled physical activity such as aimless eye movements and unwillingness to sit still. The emotional excitement has an impact on all physiological aspects: a patient may have an increased appetite and sleeplessness. The outcomes for a patient heavily depend on the severity of the primary symptoms: some people stay sane during the phase, and some of them become unable to participate in conversations and critically evaluate their actions.
The presence of a depressive state in patients with the disease remains another distinctive feature of bipolar disorder. During that phase of the disease, people are joyless, they demonstrate almost no attention to things or people they love. More than that, the majority of patients suffering from the discussed disorder report the feeling of desperation and sleep deprivation. Patients with the discussed diagnosis seem to think a lot about death; more than that, some of them see the latter as the only way to stop feeling bad. Unfortunately, certain patients who receive no professional help successfully commit suicide during this stage of the disease.
Another important symptom that can be regarded as a sign of the bipolar disorder is referred to as the mixed condition. Patients demonstrating this type of mental condition tend to have the combination of symptoms listed in the previous paragraphs. Thus, people in this condition may demonstrate the combination of symptoms that seem to be mutually exclusive. According to many researchers, the discussed phase of the disease presents increased risks for patients because the rapid changes in mood may increase the sufferings of patients even more and make them try to find the balance with the help of radical methods such as suicide.
Factors Causing Bipolar Disorder
Nowadays, there are a few versions that are used by researchers to explain the reason why the bipolar disorder occurs and develop measures that could help to reduce the number of people suffering from this disease. To begin with, there is a hypothesis that people suffer from the bipolar disorder due to severe psychological traumas caused by their previous experience. As is clear from many sources, researchers in the field are still unable to come to an agreement when it comes to causes of the disorder. For instance, some researchers suppose problems related to circadian biorhythm to be one of the important causes of bipolar disorder (Moon et al., 2016).
At the same time, other researchers suppose that the occurrence of bipolar disorder in people of different ages and ethnicities is strictly interconnected with the presence of genetic predisposition (Craddock & Sklar, 2013). Apart from that, there are researchers who highlight the role of external factors and malfunctioning of neurotransmitters in order to explain the growing number of cases of bipolar disorder (Tsu & Gutierrez, 2016).
In general, when speaking about the primary causes of the discussed disorder, the majority of researchers in the field emphasize that the question is rather controversial. At the same time, a lot of them agree that bipolar disorder occurs due to the combination of genetic predisposition and traumatic experience (Greenberg, Rosenblum, McInnis, & Muzik, 2014).
Conclusion
In the end, bipolar disorder belongs to the number of conditions involving the rapid mood changes and it often encourages patients to attempts suicide. Despite the fact that the primary cause of the disease remains an open question, the majority of researchers interested in the topic acknowledge that bipolar disorder is rooted in genetic predisposition and external factors such as severe stress.
Annotated Bibliography
Craddock, N., & Sklar, P. (2013). Genetics of bipolar disorder. The Lancet, 381(9878), 1654-1662.
In their article, Craddock and Sklar (2013) study bipolar disorder in connection to the genetic factor that is supposed to play an important role in the majority of cases of the disease. To find the materials prepared by other researchers to be reviewed, the authors have searched Medline and found nine articles devoted to the topic. Based on the findings indicated by previous researchers, the authors state that the role of genetics in bipolar disorder needs to be thoroughly studied in the future. The authors conclude that molecular genetic studies need to be paid more attention to as they are capable of identifying the basic cause of the disease and the ways to prevent it.
Grande, I., Berk, M., Birmaher, B., & Vieta, E. (2016). Bipolar disorder. The Lancet, 387(10027), 1561-1572.
The study by Grande, Berk, Birmander, and Vieta (2016) is devoted to reviewing the most recent studies on the topic of bipolar disorder and summarizing their results. Using a range of credible articles accessed with the help of PubMed, the researchers identify a range of topics to be studied that includes the diagnostic classifications of the disease, its pathogenesis, and the most common methods of treatment that have been proved to be effective. As it follows from the analysis conducted by the authors, future researchers should focus on developing strategies helping to synthesize clinical information and neuroimaging data. The latter would help to use optogenetics and other techniques to create new methods of treatment.
Greenberg, S., Rosenblum, K. L., McInnis, M. G., & Muzik, M. (2014). The role of social relationships in bipolar disorder: A review. Psychiatry Research, 219(2), 248-254.
In their article, Greenberg, Rosenblum, McInnis, and Muzik (2014) review the most recent studies in the field of psychiatry to study the role of interpersonal relationships in connection with bipolar disorder and its symptoms. As is clear from the conclusions made by the authors, there is a range of studies that claim to provide new data related to the topic. Despite that, the authors claim that the majority of studies they have reviewed seem to be superficial and inconsistent but clearly demonstrate the link between bipolar disorder and interpersonal relationships. The article indicates that people suffering from bipolar disorder are likely to feel the lack of support from their friends and relatives. Also, based on the quality of reviewed studies, the authors conclude that the topic needs additional research.
Moon, J. H., Cho, C. H., Son, G. H., Geum, D., Chung, S., Kim, H., & Jee, H. J. (2016). Advanced circadian phase in mania and delayed circadian phase in mixed mania and depression returned to normal after treatment of bipolar disorder. Biological Medicine, 11, 285-295.
In their research, Moon et al. (2016) attempt at establishing the connection between various problems related to circadian cycle and cases of bipolar disorder in people of different ages. To conduct the study, the authors used health data and information related to mood changes of more than twenty patients suffering from bipolar disorder, and their circadian biorhythms were studies with the help of special actimetry sensors helping to measure activity of patients on a regular basis. In reference to manic episodes demonstrated by the participants, they were proved to be connected with the significant deviations from the normal circadian rhythm. Therefore, circadian cycle problems are supposed to be one of the mechanisms causing bipolar disorder.
Tsu, L., & Gutierrez, M. (2016). Management of bipolar disorder. US Pharmacology, 41(11), 34-37.
The article by Tsu and Gutierrez (2016) is devoted to the most common practices that are used to treat patients suffering from bipolar disorder. Having analyzed a range of studies from peer-reviewed journals, the researchers identify the most popular methods of treatment used to help patients with bipolar disorder of both types. Among them, they single out the use of antidepressants, antipsychotics, and medications aimed at reducing convulsions. According to the research, the proper medicinal drugs to be used must be chosen based on the combination of symptoms information on possible drug interactions. Also, pharmacists are supposed to provide patients with education to make them able to recognize the mood changes promptly.