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| Division of Occupational Therapy - OT Connect Bipolar Disorder
Bipolar disorder, also known as manic-depressive disorder, is a brain disorder that causes unusual shifts in a person's mood and ability to function. These unusual shifts are different from the normal ups and downs that everyone goes through. Bipolar disorder is often difficult to recognize and diagnose. It can cause a person to have a high level of energy, grandiose thoughts or ideas, and impulsive or reckless behavior. Age of onset: Bipolar disorder typically emerges in adolescence or early adulthood, but in some cases appears in childhood. Biases: Bipolar disorder affects approximately 2.3 million American adults--about 1.2 percent of the population. Men and Women are equally likely to develop this disabling illness. It is often not recognized as an illness, and people may suffer for years before it is properly diagnosed and treated. Bipolar disorder is a long-term illness that must be carefully managed throughout a person's life. Common Symptoms/Course of disease Bipolar disorder causes dramatic mood swings—from "high" and/or irritable to sad and hopeless, and then back again, often with periods of normal mood in between. Severe changes in behavior go along with these changes in mood. The periods of highs and lows are called episodes of mania and depression. There are three different types of episodes that individuals with bipolar cycle through. They are depression, mania, and mixed. Signs and symptoms of mania (or a manic episode) include:
A manic episode is diagnosed if an elevated mood occurs with three or more of the other symptoms for most of the day, nearly every day, for 1 week or longer. If the mood is irritable, four additional symptoms must be present. Signs and symptoms of depression (or a depressive episode) include:
A depressive episode is diagnosed if five or more of these symptoms last most of the day, nearly every day, for a period of 2 weeks or longer. Signs and symptoms of mixed episode include:
A mixed episode is diagnosed when mania and depression are present at the same time. Early in the course of illness, episodes may be separated by periods of wellness when a person suffers few to no symptoms. When four or more episodes of illness occur within a 12-month period, the person is said to have bipolar disorder with rapid cycling. Bipolar disorder is often complicated with alcohol or substance abuse. Severe depression or mania may be accompanied by symptoms of psychosis. These symptoms include: hallucinations (hearing, seeing, or sensing the presence of stimuli that are not there) and delusions (false personal beliefs with invalidating evidence). Psychotic symptoms typically reflect the extreme mood state at the time. Bipolar disorder is classified as either bipolar I or bipolar II depending on which is the dominant mood. Bipolar I features a dominant manic mood, and bipolar II features a dominant depressed mood. Current Medical Treatment: Medical treatment is different for each individual with Bipolar Disorder. Side effects are often reported with many of these medications. Some of the side effects that may be experienced are dry mouth, nausea, weight gain or weight loss, drowsiness and sexual dysfunction (Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance, 2005).
There are currently some new treatments under investigation. Some of these studies are developing medications that directly affect the chemicals in the brain. Research on psychotherapy is also continuing to be researched. Some of the current things being studied to treat bipolar disorder are omega-3 fatty acids, vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) and repetetive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS). To find more information on current medical treatments see the following websites: Occupational Therapy Involvement Occupational therapy addresses all symptoms including emotional, cognitive, motivational, self-concept and vegetative. OT can help treat these symptoms by focusing on functioning in everyday occupations and activities of daily life.
References
How OT Makes a Difference: Evidence-Based Practice Tse, Samson S. (2001). How does work work for people with bipolar affective disorder? Occupational Therapy International, 8(3), 210-225. The aim of the study How does work work for people with bipolar affective disorder? is to evaluate the employment rates among individuals with bipolar disorder. For those with bipolar disorder, employment prospects do not match the achievements seen among them before the onset of their illness. This article discusses how Occupational Therapists can help their clients prepare for employment and maintain hope in vocational recovery. There are many things that the Occupational Therapist can do to help the individual with Bipolar disorder. The following areas that the occupational therapist focused on in this study were helping people with bipolar disorder maintain a sense of hope to help them have self-confidence to be able to work, especially over the longer term. The OT also helps the client increase their self-awareness. Individuals with bipolar disorder often lack the vocational maturity in areas of attitude toward work, work habits, and social skills to interact openly and succeed in employment. Self-awareness is also a personal factor that is greatly needed in the work environment. Individuals with bipolar disorder have difficulty understanding their own abilities, goals, values limitations and ambitions. The best way to help individuals succeed and acquire these skills is to train the client on work skills an habits in real work situations and community environments. This is a very effective way to help individuals generalize the skills they have learned in a therapy setting to everyday situations. This can also ease the transition from therapy into the workplace. Training in self-awareness is also important to increase vocational skills. Self-awareness has been addressed in this study through group activities designed to be non-threatening and fun to increase client participation. Self-awareness is important to help the individual identify their illness and reinforce coping mechanisms. Occupational therapists can play a major role in treating individuals with bipolar disorder returning to the work force. Occupational therapy helps with returning people to the highest possible level of functioning for individuals in everyday life. Life skills needed to return to work and maintain a place in workforce. A sense of accomplishment is needed for every person to feel they have a place in society. Occupational therapists can help these individuals accomplish these goals. - NONE -
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