Faulty Wiring

I wrote this short essay a couple of years ago as an extra credit project for Chemistry.  I hope you enjoy it and it gives you some insight!

Danielle

Bipolar Disorder: The Result of Faulty Wiring

The terms unipolar and bipolar were coined by German neurologist and psychiatrist, Karl Kleist, in 1953.  Our focus will be on bipolar, a disorder, not a disease.  How can you tell?  Well, you can catch a disease, but not a disorder.  It can be classified as a number of types of disorders, such as a Spectrum Disorder, in which there is a varying degree of severity of symptoms, a circular disorder, and mental, emotional, and behavioral disorder. 

Bipolar disorder is genetic.  Twenty to forty percent of people have the genetics to develop it and currently affects approximately six million people, over two million are American.  The biological and genetic roots run in families, but are blind to age, sex, race, and ethnicity.

In those that have the markers to develop it, it has to be triggered.  Triggers often include hormones (pre-menstruation and menopause), trauma, illness, injury, drug use, stress, and lack of sleep.  Once triggered, treatment, if diagnosed, would include medications and talk therapy.  Medications are prescribed on a trial and error basis, but research shows we are getting closer to a treatment based on science, not guessing.  Lithium is one of the original medications prescribed and worked well for unknown reasons, but newer drugs have taken its place.  One downside to lithium is that it is a salt and is processed in the kidneys, so in some patients, after a long period of time, a switch to a medication that does not go through the kidneys is made. 

Bipolar disorder is generally caused by a chemical imbalance that deregulate the bioelectric system, causing symptoms.  The amygdala, two almond-shaped groups of neurons (a cell body and two types of projections sometimes wrapped in myelin), play a large role in bipolar.  When physically stimulated, as in brain surgery, it has shown to trigger anger, euphoria, and hypersexuality.  It is located in the limbic system, or middle brain, which monitors all internal organs, and controls the pituitary gland.  It is the initial processing station for input coming from all of the senses. 

Between the neurons are gaps, called synapses, that send electric signals, which turn into neurotransmitters (chemical signals), and vice versa.  These signals tell cells when to release dopamine, serotonin, and norepinephrine, which are monamies.  This controls mood regulation, stress responses, pleasure, and reward.  Cognitive functions: concentration, attention, and executive functions, are also affected.  Brains scanned with bipolar disorder show an average of thirty-one percent more binding sites for signals in the thalamus (involved in sensory and motor signal relay and regulating consciousness and sleep), and twenty-eight percent more in the ventral brainstem.  Some of the cells at these sites are either not firing as much or others firing too much. 

With all of these unregulated signals, it is no wonder that one experiences manic and depressive episodes.  Episodes of mania can include racing thoughts, hypersexuality, rage, euphoria, an inflated ego, memory troubles, confabulation, brain chemical surges, psychogenic amnesia, decreased ability to sleep, unable to stop talking, easily distracted, mood swings, impulsive behavior, and poor risk assessment. Bipolar depression symptoms includes hopelessness, loneliness, helplessness, worthlessness, confusion, difficulty concentrating, self-loathing, indifference, loss of libido, recoiling from social events, lethargy, and thoughts of harming yourself or others.

When the very first episode is triggered, men usually have a maniac episode for the first time, and women tend to have a depressive episode.  As the social stigma is being lifted, there is more and more research being done to establish a cause and potentially a patient-specific treatment, even early screenings!

Bibliography

Bressert, S. (2013) The Causes of Bipolar Disorder (Manic Depression). Available at: http://psychcentral.com/lib/the-causes-of-bipolar-disorder-manic-depression (Accessed: 3 May 2015)

Carter, J. and Dempsy, B. (2009) The complete idiot’s guide to bipolar disorder. New York: Penguin Group (USA)

University of Michigan - General Clinical Research Center (2014) Are Brain Chemistry Oddities a Sign of Bipolar Disorder?. Available at: http://bipolar.about.com/cs/menu_science/a/press_umich0210.htm (Accessed: 3 May 2015)