Treating Bipolar Disorder – 5 Effective Drugs That Help
It’s not uncommon to see a person who suffers from bipolar disorder go undiagnosed for close to eight years. Though proper treatments are available, they are still going undiagnosed or are getting inadequate treatment.
When the illness is left untreated, it can cause an assortment of trouble in the person’s life. It is important they be diagnosed soon as symptoms start so treatment can get started.
There are numerous treatments for bipolar disorder and while some may fail, others are very triumphant in controlling the illness.
Sometimes patients tend to give up on medicines because they feel it’s just not working. This can be dangerous because any lapse from taking the medication can cause a relapse in episodes. Compliance is another factor in the dealing of the disease.
Treatment Stages – Acute and Preventive
In the Acute stage, the idea is to end current depression, hypomanic, mixed mood swings and manic. Preventative measures calls for a continuation in the therapeutic process to handling future episodes.
Medication, psychotherapy and education are all forms of treatment. Medication therapy is important for all of the patients during both stages.
Patients and families can find relief in more than usual bipolar disorder symptoms during psychotherapy sessions.
Because this disease is complex, families and patients need to be aware of what its symptoms are and how it can be managed. Education of this disease is important so people know what to expect.
Despite which treatment the patient, family and physician chooses, the main goal is to decrease the amount of episodes the bipolar person has…prevent it from cycling from each mood stage. It would be beneficial to have the mood disruptions decrease in intensity as well as frequency. This would also help the patient while they are in between episodes.
During talk therapy before medication or other treatment is prescribed, the physician must first identify what caused the initial outburst. The, the doctor will assess for other problems such as emotional or medical that could hinder the patient’s treatment and recovery.
Treatments available
There are several medications that can be used to help bipolar patients in their daily lives.
1. Mood Stabilizers – this is the core of bipolar medicinal treatment. They are efficient in acute stages of depression and even psychotic mania. It can also be used as a maintenance drug. The most commonly prescribed drugs in this area are Lithium and Valporate. The drugs act as a stimulate.
2. Atypical Antipsychotic- this is a mood stabilizer that can also be prescribed for schizophrenia. There are five kinds of medication offered in this treatment. They are: Olanzapine, risperidone, quetiapine, ziprasidone and ariprazol can be used for bipolar mania and mixed episodes. However, only Quetiapine is only allowed for mixed episodes.
The best thing about the drugs is that they can be used alone or combined with other drugs to help ward of the symptoms of the disease.
3. Antiseizure medications – this is typically given to patients who have rapid bipolar cycling with mixed episodes of mania, depression and those who have suffered from substance abuse. Three antiseizure medicines given are: carbamazepine, lamotrigine and oxcarbazepine.
4. Electroconvulsive therapy – ordered on patients who suffer from acute emotional stages.
5. Sleep Management and Psychotherapy – used with medications for bipolar disorder.
There are side effects with the medication like anything else. Some of these can include: weight gain, high cholesterol, diabetes. A diet should be followed and education on dietary intake is necessary. This can help in the reduction of these effects.
With friends and family behind the loved one, then it is possible for the patient to live a “normal” life.
Abhishek Agarwal
http://www.articlesbase.com/mental-health-articles/treating-bipolar-disorder-5-effective-drugs-that-help-739515.html
February 19th, 2010 at 8:31 pm
I need major help, I'm in 3 AP classes and I have a final coming up, PLEASE help with the study guide?
1.) Pleasurable activities cause the release of endorphins, and this endorphin-rush can conceivably become …
dependent
addictive
attenuated
2.) Most drugs and behaviors that directly provide either pleasure or relief from pain pose a risk of
dependency
crime
permanently elevated moods
3.) Bipolar Disorder is considered to be primarily a
socially caused disorder
genetically caused disorder
random disorder
4.) Which of the following are NOT categories of mood disorders?
Manic depression
Bipolar disorder
Antisocial personality disorder
5.) The following are symptoms of which mood disorder? A persistent sad mood; loss of interest or pleasure in activities that were once enjoyed; significant change in appetite or body weight; feelings of worthlessness or inappropriate guilt; difficulty thinking or concentrating; and recurrent thoughts of death or suicide.
Depression
Anxiety
Mania
6.) The prescription drug lithium has been an effective mood-stabilizing medication for many people with which disorder?
Bipolar disorder
Huntington’s disease
Anorexia
7.) Which drug was promoted in the 1950′s as a psychiatric cure-all, useful for treating schizophrenia, criminal behavior, but was prohibited in the US in 1967 for its misuse as a "hippie" drug for spiritual trips?
Heroin
MDMA
LSD
8.) Which drug, commonly known as "ecstasy", has been described as both a means of alleviation and a cause for Parkinson’s Disease?
LSD
MDMA
Marijuana
9.) What was first introduced as a treatment for schizophrenia in the 1930s, and quickly became adopted as a common treatment method for mood disorders ? and as a dreaded mechanism for disciplining unruly psychiatric inpatients?
Electro Convulsive Therapy
Muscle Reflex Treatment
The Straight Jacket
10.) What is the name of the method of using digital processing to generate a three-dimensional image of the internals of an object from a series of two-dimensional x-ray axial images?
X – Ray
fMRI
CAT scan
11.) Which of the following is NOT a primary action performed by hormones?
Acquisition of intelligence
Activation or inhibition of the immune system
Regulating metabolism and preparation for a new activity
12.) The best known hormones are those produced by the … of vertebrate animals. This includes the pituitary gland, the adrenal gland, and the pancreas.
lymph nodes
mammary glands
endocrine glands
13.) Consider this example: A doctor must decide whether he should be present for his daughter’s birthday party (in his role as "father") or attend an ailing patient (as "doctor"). This situation is an example of what?
Role strain
Role conflict
Role confusion
14.) "The Bell Curve" published in 1994 by R. J. Herrnstein and Charles Murray, created great controversy among the scientific community and the public by suggesting …
that it is possible for sociologists to make generalizations
that the average IQ of races differ
that eating disorders should not recieve medical attention
15.) In the inverted vision experiment, how long does it take Susannah to readapt to her normal world after wearing the lenses for a week?
one week
one day
one hour
16.) Which area of the brain is related to amnesia?
The hippocampus
The parietal lobes
The basal ganglia
17.) What is the name of the theory which states that cues present during an aversive event become associated with the event and with the cognitive and emotional responses triggered by the event?
The Larmor equation
Cognitive neoassociation theory
The Flynn effect
18.) Which childhood disorder of excess fluid in the brain illustrates brain plasticity?
Epilepsy
Schizophrenia
Hydrocephalus
19.) Currently, an accurate diagnosis of which disease can be made only through autopsy, or in some cases, through biopsy?
Alzheimers
Amnesia
Parkinson’s Disease
20.) Dr. Weiss and Dr. Bloom explain that prolonged stress leads to the breakdown of
inhibitions
frontal lobe functioning
the hypothalamus
21.) What is the name of the process that causes us to overreact in stressful situations? For example, we may not think we are getting worked up over running late for an appointment, but our brain is treating it as though our life were on the line.
Paranoia
Sensitization
Aggression
22.) Which disorder has been suggested to be taken out of the DSM by critics who consider it a product of hysteria and superstition?
Multiple Personality Disorder
Bulimia Nervosa
Anxiety
23.) Which of the following are considered acts of aggression?
One child pushing another off a bicycle
Accidental violence
Sexual masochism
24.) When Phineas Gage was shot through the head with
February 20th, 2010 at 1:33 am
Find answers to complicated Parkinson’s questions at:
http://parkinsondisease.info/
References :
http://parkinsondisease.info/