About About Bipolar Disorder: About Bipolar Disorder

Learn about bipolar disorder and how it can lead to depression and anxiety. Depression not only affects the person who is going through it, but also everyone around them, including friends, family, loved ones, spouses, and children.

Causes for Bipolar Disorder

The exact reason or reasons for the bipolar disorder are unknown but researchers have found that:

There are no laid down specific reasons for bipolar disorder or rather it is still unknown. It is believed that there could be many reasons such as genetic' neuro-chemical and environmental factors.

Neurochemical Factors in Bipolar DisorderThe current belief is that it is a biological disorder that occurs in a specific part of the brain and is due to a chemical imbalance within the brain. Function of the brain is controlled by neuro transmitters and an imbalance in one of these neuro transmitters' such as norepinephrine' serotonin and others may be the reason for bipolar. Mania occurs when these chemicals levels are too high and in contrast when the norepinephrine levels drop below normal levels' the patient may experience depression. As a biological disorder' it may have no reaction and may be activated on its own or it may be triggered by psychological stress and social circumstances.

Genetic factors in Bipolar Disorder

• That it could be genetic as half of the people who have bipolar disorder have family member/s who have mood disorder' such as depression.

• A person who has one of the parents who has bipolar disorder has a 15 to 25 percent chance of being a victim.

• If a person who is a victim of bipolar has a non-identical twin' that person too has a 25 percent chance of getting the illness' almost similar to the risk if both parents had bipolar disorder.

• If a person who has bipolar disorder has an identical twin (who are exactly the same genetically) the other twin has a eight fold risk greater than a non identical twin' to develop the illness.

• Twins whose biological parents have bipolar and had been raised by adoptive families do not seem to have been affected by the illness which has given much reason for researchers to study more about the genetic causes vs environmental and life event causes.

Environmental Factors in Bipolar Disorder

• It is possible that a life event may be the cause for a mood episode in a person who is likely to be a genetic victim of a bipolar disorder.

• Though Alcohol' drug abuse or hormonal problems is not a cause for bipolar disorder' it can be the cause to trigger an episode.

• What is alarming is that bipolar disorder is being diagnosed in early ages among those who are at risk. This may be the cause of environmental factors that are yet to be determined.

Other reasons such as anti depressants and illicit drugs can be the cause to trigger a manic episode among those who are at risk with bipolar disorder.