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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 5 of 5. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Shelia Franklin on September 15, 1999, at 0:07:33
Sister has been diagnosed with Bipolar I and Bipolar II what exactly is this. The doctor also says that she has a mild split personality disorder. Can someone help me understand these???
Posted by Susan Jane on September 15, 1999, at 14:57:25
In reply to Would like to know exactly what Bipolar Disorder , posted by Shelia Franklin on September 15, 1999, at 0:07:33
> Sister has been diagnosed with Bipolar I and Bipolar II what exactly is this. The doctor also says that she has a mild split personality disorder. Can someone help me understand these???
The much more descriptive term is Manic-Depression. You already know what depression is since it's gotten so much media coverage in recent years. Mania is the opposite of depression which can be happy and high energy or very irritable and know-it-all. Just like depression, mania can be very dangerous if not properly medicated. There are some very good books available that are worth finding. Check out this web page: http://www.ndmda.org/
It's great that you're looking for answers. I hope your sister will be, too. Good luck!
SusanJane :)
Posted by Bob on September 15, 1999, at 15:09:37
In reply to Re: What's Bipolar Disorder?, posted by Susan Jane on September 15, 1999, at 14:57:25
One of the books on the Cool Books thread may also be of help. It's called "An Unquiet Mind" and is written by Kay Jamison, one of *the* experts on manic-depressive/bipolar disorder. It's her account of her own struggles in dealing with her own manic-depression. It can be a very wrenching, thought-provoking book ... but it's also a story of how she has come to terms with her disorder and how she manages it while leading a quite extraordinary life.
Best of luck,
Bob
Posted by Corike on September 16, 1999, at 16:07:05
In reply to Would like to know exactly what Bipolar Disorder , posted by Shelia Franklin on September 15, 1999, at 0:07:33
> Sister has been diagnosed with Bipolar I and Bipolar II what exactly is this. The doctor also says that she has a mild split personality disorder. Can someone help me understand these???
Hi Shelia,
My sister was diagnosed about 3 years ago with bipolar disorder. I found some
very useful websites just by searching with the key word bipolar. I forgot which
ones they were but you should do a query on the topic on the web.
How are you and your sister doing? My sister is still struggling and it is very hard to
watch here being unable to help. I also found a nice book for family members of
people with mental problems. If you're interested I can ask my parents what the title
was (after reading it I gave it to them).Good luck. You can always mail me if you'd like to talk to someone in a similar
position,
Corike.
Posted by victoria on September 22, 1999, at 4:33:31
In reply to Re: Would like to know exactly what Bipolar Disorder , posted by Corike on September 16, 1999, at 16:07:05
> > Sister has been diagnosed with Bipolar I and Bipolar II what exactly is this. The doctor also says that she has a mild split personality disorder. Can someone help me understand these???
>
> Hi Shelia,
>
> My sister was diagnosed about 3 years ago with bipolar disorder. I found some
> very useful websites just by searching with the key word bipolar. I forgot which
> ones they were but you should do a query on the topic on the web.
> How are you and your sister doing? My sister is still struggling and it is very hard to
> watch here being unable to help. I also found a nice book for family members of
> people with mental problems. If you're interested I can ask my parents what the title
> was (after reading it I gave it to them).
>
> Good luck. You can always mail me if you'd like to talk to someone in a similar
> position,
> Corike.Hi, thought I might be able to help. I'm a psychiatric nurse.
Bipolar disorder used to be called "manic depression" because there are periods when the individual is very energetic, and periods when the person is very lethargic or depressed. We have now discovered that Bipolar disorder is a disease of radical highs and lows, with Bipolar II indicating that the individual is now in the low, or depressed phase of the illness. Antidepressants are risky at this time, especially the ones that can induce mania once more, these are Nefazadone, Zoloft, Prozac. So the best thing to do is rely on Lithium, which has been very sucessful, though we really don't know why. So if an antidepressant is used along with Lithium, it is better to chose one that is NOT is the "SSRI" family (mentioned above) and stay with the tricyclics, like Elavil, Doxepin, Trazadone, Imipramine. Does this help?
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