Bipolar disorder medication

 

Bipolar Disorder: Treatments and Medications

The brain is one of the most important parts of the body. Without it, you will be unable to live. The brain controls every part of a human's body and is responsible for everything that you do. It is responsible for your basic motor skills, such as walking, or handling things and it is also responsible for the way you feel or your emotions.

There are different kinds of emotions that you can feel throughout your life. There are times where you are happy, and there are also times where you will feel depressed about something. This is a normal reaction to the environment. If something pleases you, you will be happy and if something bad happens, you will feel depressed.

However, there are some cases where people suffer from a brain disorder where they have no total control of their emotions. This particular disorder is called bipolar disorder. Bipolar disorder is a brain disorder that can affect your emotions or your mood. It is an illness where you will have little or no control of your emotions where you will experience different kinds of emotions at fluctuating intervals. People with bipolar disorder often get depressed even when there is nothing to be depressed about. Even when you cheer that person up, you will see that it will have no effect on that person. You will also see that the mood will change to extreme euphoria where they will feel very happy and have gradual increase in their energy.

Mood change is a normal thing. However, people with bipolar disorder experiences mood changes at an interval. You will see that in one moment they are depressed and will suddenly become happy at no reason at all.

There are two classifications of symptoms for bipolar disorder. One is the manic episode, and the other is the depressive episode. In the manic episode, the person with bipolar disorder will have increased energy, talkative, unusually in a high or euphoric mood, irritable, have racing thoughts that can result in loss of concentration and jumping from one idea to another, unrealistic beliefs in their abilities and powers, increased sex drive, denial that anything is wrong, aggressive behavior, and abuse of substances, such as drugs and alcohol.

In depressive episode, the person with bipolar disorder will experience long duration of sadness, empty mood, feelings of guilt and worthlessness, feelings of hopelessness, being pessimistic, loss of interest in activities that is considered to be pleasurable such as sex, sleeping too much or can't sleep at all, feelings of irritability, and thoughts of death or suicide. Sometimes, there comes a point where they even attempt to commit suicide.

These are the two classifications of the different signs and symptoms for bipolar disorder. Because of the symptoms associated, bipolar disorder is also called manic-depressive illness. Because of the constant mood change, bipolar disorder can affect a person's social life. It can also affect a person with this disorder their job or school performance. They will also constantly experience making and losing friends because of their behavior.

You have to consider that bipolar disorder is a serious illness that should be treated with careful management. It is important that bipolar disorder should be treated immediately as soon as the signs and symptoms for it appear. Treatment will consist of psychotherapy and medication.

Psychotherapy can help the patient determine if they are going through a mood change and will also help them control their emotions better. However, there are cases where psychotherapy isnt enough. Medication is usually prescribed for bipolar disorder where it can normalize their emotions. Here are some of the mood-stabilizing medications available in the market that can effectively treat bipolar disorder:

     Lithium
     Anticonvulsant medications, such as valproate and lamotrigine

It is important that before starting a new medication for bipolar disorder, you should always consult your psychiatrist first as it may have some side effects. Depending on the medication, the side effects may include tremors, reduced sex drive, hair loss, anxiety, weight gain or loss, and dry mouth.

The treatments mentioned can effectively manage the bipolar disorder. You should consider that there is still no cure for bipolar disorder. It is a long term illness which requires long term treatment with psychotherapy and also medications.

 

Recommended For You