Bipolar Disorder is the mental illness in which a person’s mood alternates between severe mania and despair. Bipolar disorder is also called manic-depressive disease. When overexcited, people with bipolar disorder feel strongly overjoyed, conceited, lively, and short-tempered. When depressed, they experience painful sadness, negative thinking, and indifference to things that used to bring them happiness. Unlike the normal ups and downs that everyone goes through, the symptoms are severe. They can effect in damaged relationships, poor job performance and even suicide. Bipolar is a physical problem of the brain the same way asthma is a physical problem of the lungs, when an organ of the body gets ill, the area where it doesn't work gets affected. For example if the job of the lung is breathing and you have an illness of the lung, you're going to have problems breathing. Some people don't think it's an illness. Some research suggests that highly creative people—such as artists, composers, writers, and poets—show unusually high rates of bipolar disorder, and that period of mania fuel their inventiveness.
Bipolar disorder and alcoholism commonly co-occur. Multiple explanations for the relationship between these conditions have been proposed, but this relationship remains poorly understood. Some evidence suggests a genetic link. This comorbidity also has implications for diagnosis and treatment. Alcohol use may worsen the clinical course of bipolar disorder, making it harder to treat. There has been little research on the appropriate treatment for comorbid patients. Some studies have evaluated the effects of valproate, lithium, and naltrexone, as well as psychosocial interventions, in treating alcoholic bipolar patients, but further research is needed. Bipolar disorder represents a significant public health problem, which often goes undiagnosed and untreated for lengthy periods. In a survey of 500 bipolar patients, 48 percent consulted 5 or more health care professionals before finally receiving a diagnosis of bipolar disorder, and 35 percent spent an average of 10 years between the onset of illness and diagnosis and treatment...................
