Bipolar Nature or Nurture
Developing Skills for Studying and Learning
Using Academic Literature
An Evaluative Essay on Nature/Nurture in Bipolar
Hayley Wilde
Bipolar disorder or as it was previously called Manic Depression is a mood disorder that affects about one in a hundred people (data from where??). The Royal College of Psychiatrists (2011) states that there are four? types of Bipolar these are Bipolar I in which a person has experienced at least one manic episode that has lasted for more than one week. It says that people usually experience depressive episodes although some only have the mania. Manic episodes if left untreated normally last 3-6 months whereas depressive episodes can go on for longer 6-12 months. Bipolar II is categorised by only having a mild manic episode and more than one occurrence of major depression. Rapid cycling is categorised by having had more than 4 ‘episodes’ of mood swings which can happen in both type I and type II Bipolar. Lastly Cyclothymia in which the mood swings are not as acute as they are in full-blown Bipolar. Some of the symptoms experienced in Bipolar can be psychotic episodes in which the patient loses contact with reality, they may experience delusions, hallucinations, hear voices that aren’t there, their sense of smell may also be affected. In a manic episode they experience racing thoughts and feelings of grandiosity. Owen & Saunders (2008) suggests that it may be due to the way that the brains cells communicate with each other and that the name ‘manic depression’ was first used by a German doctor Emil Kraepelin in 1896. However Fast and Preston (2006) states that the illness had been documented by Hippocrates more than two thousand years ago and his conjecture was that mood swings were the result of fluctuations in bodily fluids. The Royal College of Psychiatrists (2011) states that the disease seems to run in families rather than due to the way in which we are brought up.
On the other hand the way in which nature has an effect
Using Academic Literature
An Evaluative Essay on Nature/Nurture in Bipolar
Hayley Wilde
Bipolar disorder or as it was previously called Manic Depression is a mood disorder that affects about one in a hundred people (data from where??). The Royal College of Psychiatrists (2011) states that there are four? types of Bipolar these are Bipolar I in which a person has experienced at least one manic episode that has lasted for more than one week. It says that people usually experience depressive episodes although some only have the mania. Manic episodes if left untreated normally last 3-6 months whereas depressive episodes can go on for longer 6-12 months. Bipolar II is categorised by only having a mild manic episode and more than one occurrence of major depression. Rapid cycling is categorised by having had more than 4 ‘episodes’ of mood swings which can happen in both type I and type II Bipolar. Lastly Cyclothymia in which the mood swings are not as acute as they are in full-blown Bipolar. Some of the symptoms experienced in Bipolar can be psychotic episodes in which the patient loses contact with reality, they may experience delusions, hallucinations, hear voices that aren’t there, their sense of smell may also be affected. In a manic episode they experience racing thoughts and feelings of grandiosity. Owen & Saunders (2008) suggests that it may be due to the way that the brains cells communicate with each other and that the name ‘manic depression’ was first used by a German doctor Emil Kraepelin in 1896. However Fast and Preston (2006) states that the illness had been documented by Hippocrates more than two thousand years ago and his conjecture was that mood swings were the result of fluctuations in bodily fluids. The Royal College of Psychiatrists (2011) states that the disease seems to run in families rather than due to the way in which we are brought up.
On the other hand the way in which nature has an effect
References: James O (2007) They F*** You Up London Bloomsbury Publishing Owen S & Saunders A (2008) Bipolar disorder The Ultimate Guide Oxford Oneworld Publications The Royal College of Psychiatrists (2011) Bipolar (Manic Depression) [online] Available from: http://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/ [Accessed on 30th May, 2011]