Background

= = = = **BIPOLAR DISORDER ** Bipolar disorder is formerly known as manic depressive disorder characterized by mood swings from mania (expansive, elevated mood), to depression. More recently, it has been categorized into Bipolar I and Bipolar II. Bipolar I is characterized by recurrent episodes of mania and possible episodes of depression, whereas Bipolar II is characterized by primarily depressive mood with at least one manic episode. During mania, psychotic episodes including hallucinations and delusions may be apparent. A lesser form of mania known as 'hypomania' does not display these psychotic sypmptoms. Hypomania is part of a closely related disorder called Cyclothymia. It is characterized by waves of hypomania to mild or moderate bouts of depression. Some people may experience mania with depression, or cyle through both stages very quickly as to make it difficult to determine which is dominant; this is refered to as a "mixed" episode. Not only is the nature of bipolar I and bipolar II different, but the prevalence rates of each category are as well. The lifetime prevalence of bipolar I is estimated to be approximately 0.4%-1.6% of the population, and the lifetime prevalence of bipolar II is extimated to be 0.4-0.5% of the population. Bipolar disorder is the 6th most common cause of disability in the United States, and the 5th leading cause of disability among 15-44 year olds globally. Bipolar disorder tends to run in families, and tends to effect men and women relatively equally. This may be counterintuitive due to statistics that say more women than men are effected by depression.

It has been suggested that the DSV-5 have more of a symptom based definition of bipolar disorder to accurately capture the depth of the illness. It has a multisystemic nature involving disturbances in physical, psychological, and social domains; individuals suffer from abnormal sleep rhythms and disruption in social relations. It is not merely periodic elevated and depressed mood swings, nor is it a variant of unipolar depression or other mood disorders. The complex nature of this disorder makes it difficult to diagnose and treat.

The chronic nature of its symptomology, and the impairment experienced significantly impacts the individuals physical health as well as overall quality of life. The difficulty of this disease is captured in the lifetime suicide rates of its sufferers; it is 60 times higher than that of the general population. The life of someone living with bipolar disorder is characterized by lower wages, higher unemployment, work absenteeism and disability, disrupted social relationships, increased divorce rates, lower levels of educational attainment, higher rates of arrest, hospitalization, and premature death. Not only is bipolar disorder excruciating to live with, it is also incredibly expensive to society. It is estimated that the societal cost of bipolar disorder is $45 billion a year in the United States.

**Symptoms **  =This video detials the stories of people with bipolar disorder and illustrates their daily struggles related to their disorder. This video gives a real and accurate depiction of how manic and depressive episodes imapct ones life. = = []   = =