Bender-Bipolar 1- Specific Individual

 

Bipolar 1 Disorder

Personal Experience- Andrea

    Living with bipolar 1 disorder can be very challenging. It can cause stress on personal relationships and within a person life. The first challenge comes with being diagnosed with the disorder. Many people do not know what is causing their mood swings or shifts of behaviors. According to Shah et al (2017), "Patients with BPAD encounter educational difficulties, job related problems, interpersonal difficulties, psychosocial dysfunction, disability, marital problems, multiple suicidal attempts, completed suicide and medication side effects". Another challenge is finding the medications that work for you. There are  pharmacological management options such as first line agent for management of mania may involve use of lithium or valproate, olanzapine, haloperidol, quetiapine, aripiprazole, risperidone, paliperidone or ziprasidone as monotherapy (Shah et al ,2017).Everyone's body is different so every medication reacts differently. Another option is therapy which proves to be beneficial for many. 

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Self-Concept & Perception

    Andrea is a young women who is living with bipolar 1 disorder. She experiences manic and depressive episodes. Andrea explains how when she is manic she goes days without sleep. The longest she has went without sleep was 8 days. She uses a planner to help organize her thoughts. When she is manic it helps her get the thoughts out. She feels on top of the world yet she is very irritable. She spends money irresponsibly, overdrinks and does not even recognize her behaviors as dangerous. She explained how coming down off of a manic episode is more like a crash that a smooth landing. She crashing into a depressive episode where she spends most of her time in bed. She went into a deep depressive episode after having a trauma event. She began to have suicidal thoughts which landed her is a psych hospital. They diagnosed her with depression and prescribed her a antidepressant which launched her mood from 0 to 1000. She spiraled out of control. She was misdiagnosed.  Many people are often misdiagnosed before getting diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Andrea was able to get the correct diagnosis and find the right medication. She know is able to function. She runs daily. It helps her through manic and depressive episodes.

https://youtu.be/vcCBacPWLrc- Click here to read about Andreas experience.

How this affects those coping with the Disability

    Coping with bipolar disorder can be a struggle. Misdiagnosis can cause someone to prescribed the wrong medication which can cause a person to spiral out of control making it hard to control. According to Shen et al (2018)," Bipolar disorder is a mental illness with a high misdiagnosis rate and commonly misdiagnosed as other mental disorders including depression, schizophrenia, anxiety disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorders, and personality disorders, resulting in the mistreatment of clinical symptoms and increasing of recurrent episodes". Getting the correct diagnosis and medication is key.

Disability Impacts Social/Physical development 

    In times of Andreas manic episodes , many people assumed she was fun and free spirted when in reality she was spiraling out of control. When she is having a depressive episode , she isolates herself and spends most of her time in bed. This can hinder her social life negatively. People with bipolar disorder are less likely to achieve social milestones such as marriage or equivalent relationships than the population (Depp et al , 2010). Being active and playing sports was a big part of Andreas life. When in her depressive episodes this declined. Currently, Andrea using running to cope with her bipolar disorder. It has proved to be a good outlet in coping with bipolar disorder. 

Disability Impacts Psychological Development

    Those living with bipolar disorder often have many impairments. In Andreas case her depressive episodes left her isolated. Adults with impairments may struggle to carry out daily activities, maintain social relationships, and live may quit work or quit activities that were once a part of their pleasure(Namkung & Carr, 2020).Andrea struggled with these things when in her depressive states. Both manic and depressive episodes can be very stressful. According to Namkung & Carr (2020)," Persistent stress exposure also threatens one’s immune, digestive, cardiovascular, sleep, and reproductive systems, which render one vulnerable to psychological distress". During the process of going through the ups and downs , Andrea experienced psychological distress. She has now found the right "cocktail" of meds as she refers to it along with coping skills that help keep her on an even path. 

                                               www.nami.com                                                           

MORE PERSONAL EXPERIENCES

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rp5SeMrivRA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=drDEZA51Dy8

References

Depp, C. A., Mausbach, B. T., Harvey, P. D., Bowie, C. R., Wolyniec, P. S.,

     Thornquist, M. H., Luke, J. R., McGrath, J. A., Pulver, A. E., & Patterson, T. L.

     (2010). Social competence and observer-rated social functioning in bipolar

     disorder. Bipolar Disorders, 12(8), 843–850. doi.org/10.1111/j.1399-

    5618.2010.00880.x

Namkung, E. H., & Carr, D. (2020). The psychological consequences of disability

     over the life course: Assessing the mediating role of perceived interpersonal

     discrimination. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 61(2), 190–207.

     doi.org/10.1177/0022146520921371

Shah, N., Grover, S., & Rao, G. P. (2017). Clinical practice guidelines for

     management of bipolar disorder. Indian Journal of Psychiatry, 59, S51–S66.

     doi.org/10.4103/0019-5545.196974

Shen, H., Zhang, L., Xu, C., Zhu, J., Chen, M., & Fang, Y. (2018). Analysis of

     misdiagnosis of bipolar disorder in an outpatient setting. Shanghai Archives

     of Psychiatry, 30(2), 93–101. doi.org/10.11919/j.issn.1002-0829.217080