When one member of a household has an untreated mental health or substance use disorder, it will affect the entire family. It’s why family therapy is a beneficial part of many recovery programs. But now there is scientific evidence showing that when a parent has a mental illness or substance abuse problem, their children are … Read more
The American Psychiatric Association and the World Health Organization both define bipolar disorder not as a clearly defined condition, but rather as a spectrum of mood disorders that occur on a continuum of alternating moods. It causes patients to alternate between extremes of mania and depression, but they may also exhibit primarily one or the … Read more
Aging and population growth has driven the global census of people living with bipolar disorder to an all-time high. Unfortunately, an unprecedented number of people – more than 80 percent of those diagnosed in the United States – are suffering needlessly in an era when modern medications can allow people with the illness to live … Read more
Many people believe that diagnoses of psychiatric disorders are entirely subjective, and that there are no true “biomarkers” — biological processes found in a blood test or with medical imaging that prove the indisputable existence of disease. While that isn’t entirely true for all psychiatric conditions, there has been no biomarker identified for bipolar disorder … Read more
Substance abuse can lead to chemical imbalances in the brain that may cause symptoms similar to bipolar disorder. These symptoms include shifts between manic and depressive episodes that occur within a month of substance abuse or intoxication. Depressive episodes are characterized by sadness, hopelessness, and disinterest in daily life, while manic episodes are characterized by … Read more