Bipolar Disorder and Substance Abuse Research Paper

Bipolar Disorder and Substance Abuse - Research Paper Example The exact reasons for the close association of bipolar disease and substance abuse are still unknown to medical science. This paper analyses bipolar disorders, substance abuse or substance use disorder and the relationship between the two. Bipolar Disease and Substance Abuse â€Å"Bipolar disorder is a chronic enduring mental illness characterised by periods of elation and depression in mood. A lifetime history of alcohol misuse is one of the more common co-morbidities occurring in about 46% of people with bipolar I disorder† (Saunders and Goodwin 2010). Bipolar disorders were earlier referred as manic depression. Constant and continuous mood swings are one of the major symptoms of bipolar disorder. Within a short period of time, a person with bipolar disorder may show extremities of mood; He can demonstrate the feeling of sadness, hopelessness and helplessness at a particular moment and in the very next moment he can feel like on top of the world. One of the major characteris tics noticed by the psychologists about Bipolar disorders is the fact that majority of these patients show substance use disorders (SUD) also. For example, alcoholism and drug abuses are seen common among people with bipolar disorders. ... Bipolar 1 is more severe than bipolar 2. People with bipolar 1 disease need hospitalization whereas bipolar 2 do not need hospitalization. â€Å"Mania is seen in bipolar 1 and hypomania is seen in bipolar 2† (Fast &Julie A Fast (Author) †º Visit Amazon's Julie A Fast Page Find all the books, read about the author, and more. See search results for this author Are you an author? Learn about Author Central Preston, 2006, p.20). People with bipolar 2 may not show many changes in their normal behaviors whereas people with bipolar 1 diseases will show many changes in their normal behavior patterns and they may experience hallucinations, delusions, paranoia etc. It is possible that a person with bipolar disease may induce self harm. In many cases, these patients may attack others also. Aggression is one of the major characteristics of bipolar 1 disease. The reasons for bipolar disorders are still unknown. However, as in the cases of other psychological disorders, heredity and en vironment play an important role in causing bipolar disorders to a person. Long (2005) has pointed out the role of heredity in causing bipolar disorders; About half of all patients with Bipolar I Disorder have one parent who also has a mood disorder, usually Major Depressive Disorder. If one parent has Bipolar I Disorder, the child will have a 25% chance of developing a mood disorder. If both parents have Bipolar I Disorder, the child has a 50%-75% chance of developing a mood disorder. (Long, 2005) The above results clearly show that bipolar disorders have strong association with heredity. No studies succeeded yet in singling out a particular gene which causes bipolar diseases.