Bipolar Disorder Case Study

Bipolar disorder is a mental illness that affects more than 1% of the world’s population (Grande, Berk, Birmaher & Vieta, 2016). Bipolar is a brain disorder that causes episodes of mood swings and shifts in energy levels. It is also known as a manic-depressive disorder (Muller-oerlinghausen, Berghofer & Bauer, 2002). Bipolar disorder is a lifelong illness and can impair or reduce the quality of life with an individual. The diagnoses of bipolar are usually found in young adulthood (Grande, Berk, Birmaher & Vieta, 2016). The treatment to manage bipolar can be broad but often acute. Treatment can range from management of mood episodes to pharmacological and psychological approaches (Grande, Berk, Birmaher & Vieta, 2016).
Bipolar disorders have

The DSM-5 deliberately located bipolar in between the chapters on schizophrenia spectrum and other psychotic and depressive disorders to recognize their place, as a bridge between the two classes in terms of family, symptoms, and genetics. The first listed in the DSM-5 is bipolar I. The criteria explain that it is necessary to meet at least one of the manic episodes listed. The DSM-5 also goes on to say that for bipolar I, the occurrence of the manic and major depressive episodes is not better explain by any other diagnoses. A hypomanic episode and major depressive episode are common in bipolar I but it is not necessarily required for the diagnoses of bipolar I. The type of current or most recent episode and the statues of severity, present of psychotic feature and remission states, depends on the coding and recording process in diagnosing bipolar

However, the manic and depressive conditions included in the diagnosed today were studied dating back to the 17th century (Krans and Cherney, 2016). Mood disorders have been around for a while. The idea of ‘manic-depressive disorder’ was around way before the first DSM came out. By the time DSM-III came out, the description of episodic mood dysfunctions was used to diagnose bipolar disorder (Mason, Brown, & Croarkin, 2016). However, as the year went by and more research came out about bipolar disorders and its similarities to major depressive disorders and different schizo types, some of the criteria changed over time.
As mention above, bipolar was technically listed as manic-depressive until the DSM-III. Before the DSM-III, the concept of manic-depressive disorder was presented by single episodes of mania, depression or a mixture of many episodes (Mason, Brown, & Croarkin, 2016). After the DSM-III the description of episodic mood dysfunction was used to diagnose bipolar (Mason, Brown, & Croarkin,