Compare And Contrast Bipolar And Narcissistic

Bipolar and Narcissistic: A Study of Personality Disorders Extreme mood swings punctuated by periods of generally even-keeled behavior, is how bipolar disorder is defined as. Bipolar disorder symptoms usually do not show up until a person is in their mid-twenties and continues throughout their life. The disorder can be treated but without treatment it can cause major problems in that person’s life. Bipolar disorder is also known as manic-depressive illness. It is a brain disorder that can cause unusual change in a person’s mood, energy, and ability to function. Everyone goes through ups and downs throughout their day, but a bipolar person’s ups and downs are more severe and can affect their everyday lives. These ups and downs are called
mania and depression. Symptoms of bipolar disorder depend on if the person is in a manic episode or a depressive episode.
A manic episode may include symptoms of increased energy or restlessness, excessively “high” good mood, extreme irritability, racing thoughts and talking super fast, they may get distracted really easily, spending sprees, and increased sex drive. A manic episode can be diagnosed if the mood occurs with three or more of the other symptoms, the majority of the day, almost every day, for a week. If the person has the irritable symptom four additional symptoms must be present for it to be a manic episode. A depressive episode may include symptoms of lasting sad, anxious, or empty mood, feelings of pessimism, guilt, worthlessness, lost of interest in activities the person once enjoyed, decreased energy, sleeping to much or not sleeping at all, thoughts of death or suicide or attempts at suicide. A depressive episode can be diagnosed if the mood occurs with five or more of these symptoms that last most of the day, almost every day, for a period of two weeks or longer. With these manic and depressive episodes a person will need to try and seek treatment because these episodes can be very harmful to the person and/or the people close to
them. Treatments can vary from medications to electroconvulsive therapy.
The medications mostly prescribed by doctors, to bipolar patients are usually called mood-stabilizing medications. These medications can include Lithium, Valproate, Carbamazepine. Lithium has been shown to help with the treatment of acute mania and acute bipolar depression, and it reduces the severity duration and frequency of manic and depressive episodes. Some side effects of taking lithium is nausea, diarrhea, weight gain, thirstiness, tremors, and hypothyroidism. Valproate has been recognized to be helpful in the treatment of acute mania. Side effects can include stomach upset and some sleepiness and usually goes away quickly after the patient’s body gets used to the drug. Carbamazepine has been used for decades to treat bipolar disorder even though not much research has been done of the drug. Side effects are sleepiness, lightheadedness, and some nausea but the side effects are short lived. Electroconvulsive therapy also known as ECT has had major improvements since it first came out. ECT is usually done in the recovery room of a surgical suite in a hospital. It is done under general anesthesia to help relax the patient. Electrodes disks are applied to the patients scalp where the shock is given. ECT is considered to be the most effective treatment but is often the last resort for patients and their
families. Narcissistic Personality Disorder is a person defined to have a sense of dominance, a need for respect, and a lack of empathy. A person with this disorder has what therapist call “grandiosity”, which is an embellished belief in their own importance. They can be very sensitive to failure, defeat, or criticism. Narcissistic people believe themselves to be superior to others and often think they are envied by others. Their actions often are offensive to others who believe they are very self-centered, arrogant or selfish. This disorder often occurs in high achievers. Individuals with this disorder have a hard time adjusting to growing old. Narcissistic personality disorder and bipolar disorder can sometimes go hand in hand after a hypomanic episode. Sometimes after an episode the bipolar person may feel the need to dominate conversations, take over the limelight, and step on others’ feelings.