Manic depression, a disease whose name sounds more terrible than depression, but also has the name of "genius disease", its scientific name is called bipolar disorder, and some people use the phrase "one thought of heaven, one thought of hell" to describe the onset of bipolar disorder. In fact, it is a relatively common mental illness, the patient's mood will alternately feel high and low, there is a low mood, no sense of pleasure, fatigue and fatigue, nervousness, restlessness, uncontrollable worry, pessimistic and world-weary depression attacks, there will also be hyperactivity, reckless words and excitement, emotional agitation, high manic symptoms. And this emotional alternation can be as long as 1-2 months, or it may be within 1 day. So what are the causes of this disease? How can we help them?
What are the causes of the disease?
According to the World Health Organization, the prevalence of bipolar disorder is 2.4% globally and 1%-1.5% on the mainland. Churchill, Hemingway, Picasso, Van Gogh are all patients with bipolar disorder, so it is also called "genius disease", but in fact, its causes are very complex, there are many hypotheses in medicine, such as changes in neurotransmitters in the brain, abnormal neural structures in the brain, and synaptic changes in neurons. However, it is not clear that the following aspects are currently more recognized factors:
1) Genetic factors
Bipolar disorder is the most heritable of all psychiatric disorders, so genetic factors are also the most important risk factors, reaching 40%-70%. Studies have shown that the prevalence of first-degree relatives in patients with bipolar disorder is 8 to 18 times that of the general population, and the risk increases with the distance of kinship.
2) Age, gender
Studies have shown that bipolar disorder tends to occur before the age of 20, and most of them begin to develop in childhood or adolescence. Women are about twice as prevalent as men. So age and gender are also a factor.
3) Psychological factors
Psychological factors include many aspects, such as more impulsive personality characteristics, more likely to occur in childhood traumatic experiences and other diseases. Therefore, the living environment and family status will affect the disease.
How can we help them?
In the face of patients with depression, we cannot rely on its personal will alone, we cannot experience the inner experience of patients with bipolar disorder, but we can give them support, this is just a disease, as long as you take good medicine and receive formal psychotherapy, you can be controlled. It is treatable, like high blood pressure and diabetes. If such a patient is found around, he should be advised to receive treatment, calmly face his mood swings, and work with him to fight the dragon.
Drug therapy: the basic principles of the treatment of bipolar disorder mainly include the basic use principle of long-term, mood stabilizer and the principle of combination medication. Medications involved in the treatment of bipolar disorder include mood stabilizers, classical or non-classical antipsychotics, and other adjunctive therapies. The use of antidepressants requires caution, otherwise it will lead to the onset of the disease, and its central stabilizer is the most basic therapeutic drug, commonly used drugs are lithium carbonate, and valproate, oxcarbazepine or carbamazepine, and lamotrigine.
epilogue
Although bipolar disorder can not be completely cured, but it is still a controllable disease, it is very important to accept formal regular treatment, I hope that through the care of society, family, coupled with their own efforts, each patient can actively cooperate with the treatment, as soon as possible to usher in the inner sunny day.
bibliography:
[1] Novel Risk Loci Associated With Genetic Risk for Bipolar Disorder Among Han Chinese Individuals. JAMA Psychiatry. doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2020.3738[2] Bipolar Disorder.N Engl J Med 2020;383:58-66.DOI: 10.1056/NEJMra1906193[3] Chris Aiken.Dosing Secrets for the Top Mood Stabilizers.Psychiatric Times,May 28, 2020