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Symptoms And Treatment Of Bipolar Disorder

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In an article produced by Brown University (Psychopharmacology, 1998), at least two million Americans, or between 1 to 2 percent of the population, suffer from bipolar disorder. Catherine Zeta-Jones, Virginia Woolf, and Vincent Van Gogh are just a few famous examples known to have been diagnosed with bipolar disorder (Bhatia, 2014). According to Nick Craddock (1999) of The Journal of Medical Genetics, “bipolar disorder, also known as manic depressive illness, is a complex genetic disorder in which the core feature is pathological disturbance in mood ranging from extreme elation, or mania, to severe depression usually accompanied by disturbances in thinking and behavior.” These episodes can take an extreme toll on family structures, as well as simple everyday activities for the patient. There have been many research studies done to find what exactly causes bipolar disorder, though no conclusive answer has been found. Although a cause has not been discovered, researchers have come upon many correlations between those diagnosed and the disorder. These correlations include, heritability, alcohol and other drug abuse, and leadership positions (Edvardsen et al, 2008; Carmiol et al, 2014; Kyaga et. al, 2015). In the following paper, the roles that these correlations play in bipolar disorder will be further investigated. It is hypothesized that those with bipolar disorder more often than not have someone in their family that also has the disorder and that they will most likely

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