Bipolar disorder (BD) is a mental disorder characterized by changes in mood. BD I has cycles of mania and depression while BD II has cycles of hypomania and depression. In general, the mania cycles are treated with mood stabilizers medication. Antidepressants tend to induce the manic cycles. Based on the effects of treatments like lithium, carbamazepine, and sodium valproate, researchers have developed the “arachidonic acid cascade hypothesis” for BD pathology. Those aforementioned medications all show down-regulation of the brain arachidonic acid (AA) metabolism. AA is a fatty acid that is released by phospholipase A2. It metabolizes into different compounds called eicosanoids. AA and eicosanoids have many functions, some of which are neurotransmission, blood flow, neurite outgrowth, and also inflammation. The mood stabilizers are thought to have effects on both AA and downstream cascade products. These effects of mood stabilizers show that the mechanism of BD has a neurobiological cause.
This subject struck close to home. My family has a history of mental illness ranging from depression, alcoholism, eating disorders, and also bipolar disorder. I am afraid to tell other people, even my friends, about the prevalence of mental disorders in my family, especially my own experience with depression. In general, most people do not talk about this type of disease. This is the stigma of mental illness.
The silence associated with mental illness is devastating, especially to those who need treatment. Going to a therapist or a psychiatrist has a negative connotation. After all, if we can’t control our mind, we must be broken. But those who need treatment need to know that it is okay to seek help. It is okay to seek support, but first that support must come from those closest to you. The stigma needs to be changed in order to get people help.
Diseases such as cancer and HIV are now socially “accepted,” so to say. They are biologically based. The workings of the mind and brain are also biologically based. Just a slight deviation of a neurotransmitter can cause a cascade of events leading to different behaviors. The actions of mood stabilizers show that BD and other mental illnesses also are biologically based. Why can they not be talked about as much as cancer?
For further reading, please look at these articles. One is written by Glenn Close, whose sister suffers from bipolar disorder. She also discusses the portrayal of the mentally ill in Hollywood.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/glenn-close/mental-illness-the-stigma_b_328591.html
http://psychcentral.com/news/2010/09/23/stigma-for-mental-illness-high-possibly-worsening/18524.html
http://bringchange2mind.org/
Bipolar Disorder and the Stigma of Mental Illness
Dear Cobbersonthebrain,
Neat Post, “Annette’s” struggles started at age 14, when she was identified with bipolar disorder. It was at this time, that her mother, also struggling from this sickness, committed suicide. When she required acquaintances the most, she was ostracized by her schoolmates once they realized of her sickness. All over her living she had the loving assistance of her father and sisters.
Thx.