by Lillyswawa

Created on: August 26, 2010   Last Updated: October 04, 2010

Bipolar Disorder (formerly referred to as manic-depression) is a mental disorder which manifests itself in varying degrees of both manic and depressed moods, depending upon the sufferer - thus the term, "Bipolar".

It is, at first, a tricky diagnosis, since it can masquerade as schizophrenia whenever there are audio and/or visual manifestations for the patient. Bipolar-ism can entail paranoia and, at times, be combined with other symptoms, such as are associated with various personality disorders. The disorder may even be misdiagnosed as simple clinical depression, when the "manic pole" is less frequently apparent, even seemingly non-existent.

The definition is complicated and hard for the layperson to grasp. The risk factors are related to two things, primarily: genetics and environment.

For simplicity sake, the discussion will be limited to the examination of  the apparent risk factors involved, while attempting to define ways in which an individual (at risk) may limit the chances of developing the symptoms, even when genetic predisposition is present.

*Genetic predisposition to Bipolar Disorder:

The genetic predisposition to Bipolar disorder is pretty straightforward. If there are one or more persons diagnosed and/or being treated for this mental disorder within your family, chances are you could very well be carrying the gene or genes which could put you at risk for development of the same disorder. Depending upon the very individualistic circumstances within the family tree, any offspring of a sufferer of any mental disorder may have as much as a twenty-five percent chance of the same (or another) mental illness manifesting itself by the age of twenty-five. If both parents are affected, the chances climb to fifty-percent. Bipolar disorder generally manifests symptoms between the late teens and the early twenties.

*Environmental (stress) factors affecting chances of Bipolar Disorder:

Psychiatric research has determined that the environment a patient is exposed to prior to diagnosis, plays a significant role in both the onset of the illness and it's eventual response to medical treatment. In other words, we are affected greatly by the presence or absence of certain factors in our immediate surroundings, especially our closest relationships. Onsets often occur following divorce, loss of job, or some other traumatic experience.

Since we have little control over our genetics, we then have to look to what we can control - at least to a degree anyway, when

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