Psychological disorders, treatment and therapy to combat them, prescription medications…why aren’t we talking about it?
Reality slapped me in the face this week following my neurochemistry class in which we discussed bipolar disorder. I realized how much we as a society dislike discussing psychological disorders such as this very one. I don’t think that it is a stretch to say that we don’t recognize them unless there are visible manifestations of the damage such as shakes that appear with Parkinson’s disease, and memory loss in those who suffer from Alzheimer’s. But what about Bipolar disorder? Depression? Schizophrenia? Multiple personality disorder? All of these disorders are very real but perhaps not as easy to see on the surface. It is therefore easier to push them under the rug, which in my opinion is what we do as a society, even while people who are dealing with these diseases are struggling everyday.
I believe with the utmost importance that people need to be educated about psychological disorders such as bipolar disorder as being the first step in understanding how debilitating the disease is to those who suffer from it.
Bipolar disorder has an average onset age of 20, and is a psychological disorder affecting mood and actions. An individual who has been clinically diagnosed with bipolar disorder will cycle between manic and depressive states. The length of the cycles determines the type of bipolar disorder. In the manic state, which lasts for at least a week, the individual will experience symptoms such as high self-esteem, little need to sleep, constantly talking, irrational thoughts, distraction, or psychomotor actions such as pacing. On the other hand, during the depressive state an individual will have symptoms such as depressed mood, lack of interest, changes in diet and sleeping habits, lack of energy or even suicidal thoughts that lasts for at least two weeks.
Not much is known about the actual mechanism of bipolar disorder, but with a large amount of research having now been done on the subject, we are able to understand it better than ever before. There are findings in links between bipolar disorder and dopamine, glutamate and inflammation.
Dopamine is a neurotransmitter in the brain which plays a large role in reward-based behavior. In those with bipolar disorder, extensive dopamine release has been seen to lead to an increase in reactive free radical and oxidative stress. In simpler terms, free radicals are molecules that are highly chemically reactive, and too many of them can cause damage to cells in the brain, such as oxidative damage to DNA, lipids and proteins. The damage to these molecules can cause apoptosis (programmed cell death), cell membrane damage, and protein aggregation. Glutamate is an excitatory neurotransmitter and its increase can lead to an influx of Ca2+, which also causes oxidative stress as I previously described.
As for inflammation, there appears to be an increase in cytokines in those with bipolar disorder. Cytokines are pro-inflammatory molecules that modulate immune responses. This process is normally quite helpful with regard to our immune response, but research shows the process goes haywire in those who suffer from bipolar disorder. While inflammation in the brain has been identified in those with bipolar disorder, researchers are not completely sure on the inflammation process in its link to bipolar disorder.
Though many various drug cocktails are available to treat bipolar disorder, much more then determining the types of prescription medications to use needs to happen in order to understand this disease. I hope that in the future we are able to do much more to help people suffering from this debilitating disease, who need our understanding as much as our help. People with bipolar disorder might choose spend time in a therapist’s office discussing their condition, but there is no reason why we also can’t be there for them and discuss it outside of those doors.
Bipolar Disorder: Why Aren't We Talking About It?
