Causes of Bipolar Disorder and Diagnosis

Bipolar disorder usually begins in adolescence or early adulthood, although it can sometimes start in early childhood or as late as the 40s or 50s. If bipolar disorder symptoms appear late in life, their occurrence is probably triggered by factors such as excessive stress or substance abuse.

Manic depression behavior typically follows a pattern that cycles�sometimes rapidly�from depression to euphoria or irritability. One person's symptoms may include more mania (excitability) then depression; another person may suffer primarily from depression with mania occurring infrequently. Symptoms of mania and depression may be mixed together in any combination, but the person's mood swings from intense lows to extreme highs.

Researchers agree that bipolar disorder has no single cause, but is rather a combination of factors. The findings strongly suggest an inborn vulnerability to the disorder interacting with an environmental trigger. This idea is similar to theories about the cause of other medical conditions, such as heart disease.

Some researchers believe that bipolar disorder is caused by biochemical instability in the transmission of nerve impulses in the brain triggered by an upsetting life experience, substance abuse, lack of sleep, or other excessive stimulation.

Finally, the bipolar facts indicate that genetic inheritance is also a possible cause of bipolar disorder and other major mood disorders.

Without a professional diagnosis, symptoms of bipolar I or bipolar II disorder can be difficult to track and may be invisible except to those who know the person very well. In the early stages of the disorder, manic depression behavior may actually appear as a different problem�substance abuse, changes in sleep patterns, strained relationships, or poor performance at work or school.

To make a bipolar disorder diagnosis, a doctor, usually a psychiatrist, uses the criteria established by the American Psychiatric Association in the Diagnostic and Statistic Manual of Mental Disorders. The doctor takes a detailed family history and a history of the patients manic depressive behavior, including onset age and current symptoms.

Ask trusted friends or your primary care physician, or check your yellow pages and your medical insurance company's list. The importance of finding a professional who has experience in working with major mood disorders cannot be stressed enough.

Cyclothymicm disorder is characterized by chronic, frequent swings between hypomania and depression that occur over a period of at least two years (or in children and adolescents, at least one year). The periods of hypomania are never severe enough to qualify as full manic episodes, and the depressive periods are too mild to qualify as major depressive episodes. A person with cyclothymia is never symptom-free for longer than two months.

While cyclothymia is considered a form of manic depression, many practitioners who do not specialize in mental health often fail to arrive at a bipolar disorder diagnosis.

Resources

American Psychiatric Association. (1994). Diagnostic and Statistic Manual of Mental Disorders IV (DSM-IV), (332, 335, 337).

National Depressive and Manic-Depressive Association (NDMDA). (updated 2005). About mood disorders.

National Depressive and Manic-Depressive Association (NDMDA). (updated 2005). Bipolar disorder (manic depression).

Phelps, J.R. (nd). Finding a therapist or psychiatrist.