by Mona Gallagher

Created on: October 21, 2007

Bipolar disorder is biological in nature. The patient suffering from this disorder can do nothing, in his own power, to change the misfiring of the neurotransmitters in his brain.

He can, however, take medication and participate in therapy to alleviate the power of bipolar disorder in his life.

It's too easy to judge another person without understanding the underlying principles of a disorder. The severe mood swings of great highs and devastating lows are not something most of us understand well enough to form a well reasoned opinion on, nor do we seek understanding.

Study of the brain, its mechanisms and the way in which it is organized has come a long way in the past 50 years. Certain genes are identifiable that will eventually address illnesses like Alzheimer's and autism.

At the present time, studies on bipolar-ism are ongoing. What research shows is that the brain messengers, neurotransmitters, don't fire in the same way they fire in normal brain transmissions. Genes and inherited traits are suspect, but a gene hasn't been isolated to verify the hypothesis.

Because research hasn't found the cause, it hasn't found a cure. But, medication can treat the symptoms with some success. Other impulse related disorders are undergoing similar research and success with any one of them, might bring answers for many.

In the meantime, treating the symptoms is the best hope that science offers at this time.

Verifiable, diagnosed illness is never an excuse. If you could understand the depths of despair that bipolar sufferers experience, you'd know that this condition is debilitating and suicides are often the result of bipolar severe depressive episodes. You can't fake or excuse suicide.

The important things are to be diagnosed and treated with all available medication and psychotherapy. Where society often fails in bipolar disorder, is to treat the disorder with medication and ignore the therapy as part of the process.

Once you understand the underlying implications of bipolar disorders, you can't conscientiously call it an excuse. The only thing that can be conceived as an excuse is not to get the treatment once you've been diagnosed.

Source:

http://www.nimh.nih.gov/science-new s/2007/

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