Bipolar Disorders

Question 1

Bipolar disorder

Answer 1

Persons experiencing periods of hypomania or mania

Question 2

Hypomania

Answer 2

Characterized by a reduced need for sleep, high energy, and positive af­fect. During periods of hypomania, people are talkative, energetic, impulsive, positive, and very confident. In this state, they can be very effec­tive at certain jobs and can be great fun to be with.

Question 3

Mania

Answer 3

• Has the same features as hypomania but taken to an extreme
• Additional symptoms, such as delusions of grandeur, overconfi­dence, impulsivity, and distractibility.
• Mania usually involves psychosis (a loss of touch with reality).
• When mania is full­blown, the person often exhibits unbridled enthusiasm with an outflow of incessant chatter that hurtles from topic to topic. No task is too dif­ficult. No goal is unattainable.
• Results in series of disaster

Question 4

Bipolar disorder type 2

Answer 4

Those persons who only experience bouts of depression and hypomania

Question 5

Bipolar disorder type 1

Answer 5

Those persons who experience bouts of depression, hypomania and mania

Question 6

Mixed state

Answer 6

Displaying symptoms of both severe depression (e.g., suicidal ideation) and mania (e.g., delusions of grandeur)

Question 7

Rapid cycling bipolar disorders

Answer 7

Involving 4 or more mood episodes per year

Question 8

Causal factors bipolar disorder

Answer 8

• Highly heritable –> twin studies estimate 80–90 percent heritability
• Many different genes in bipolar disorders –> genes that code for particular cal­cium channels and for particular proteins found at the nodes of Ranvier

Question 9

Mood stabilizers

Answer 9

• Drugs that effectively treat de­pression or mania without increasing the risk of mania or depression, respectively. –> important because not treating causes severe and more frequent
• Mechanism by which mood stabilizers work is still a matter of debate, but for some reason many mood stabilizers are also effective in the treatment of both epilepsy and schizophrenia.
• Produce an array of adverse side effects (e.g., weight gain, tremor, blurred vision, dizziness) which encour­age non-adherence to these medications.

Question 10

Lithium

Answer 10

A simple metallic ion, was the first drug found to act as a mood stabilizer.

Question 11

Describe the brain differences associated with bipolar disorders.

Answer 11

• Consistent overall reductions in gray matter volume have been reported
• In ad­dition, there have been reports of several specific brain structures being smaller in patients with bipolar disorders, including the medial prefrontal cortex, the left anterior cingulate, the left superior temporal gy­rus, certain prefrontal regions, and the hippocampus.
• Meta-­analyses of fMRI studies of patients with bipo­lar disorders have found atypical activation in the frontal cortex, medial temporal lobe structures, and basal ganglia, as well as atypical functional connectivity between some of these structures, in a variety of cognitive states.

Question 12

Describe some of the theories of the etiology of bipolar disorders.

Answer 12

• Evidence of hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis dysregulation ;
• Marked disruptions in the circadian rhythms also in their non-bipolar relatives;
• Alterations to GABA, glutamate, and monoamine neuro transmission
• Evidence that BDNF levels are lower when depressed or manic.