Bipolar Disorder Assignment, Research Paper Example

Bipolar disorder, more commonly known as manic depression, is an illness that impacts mood swings.  This moving from one state to another e.g. a state of euphoria to that of deep depression.  There are two elements to this, that of depression and Mania.  Depression is where your mood makes you feel very subdued and mania  where your mood is heightened and in severe cases termed hypomania.  It is the depression phase that normally gets diagnosed at the onset, with mania setting in later.  During manic phases the tendency is to act out of normal character and symptoms might be rash spending sprees, eating disorders and in more extreme cases contemplation of suicide.  (John Geddes, 2009)

The disease mainly impacts those in the younger age group ” Bipolar disorder is a relatively common condition with around one person in 100 being diagnosed with the condition. Bipolar disorder can occur at any age, although it often develops in people who are between 18-24 years of age. Both men and women, and people from all backgrounds, can develop bipolar disorder. ” (John Geddes, 2009).   A friend recently diagnosed with Bipolar disorder was impacted in his job because he has been banned from driving, protecting his own life and the welfare of others.   The DVLA is always informed about the disorder and Citizens have a duty to ensure that this legal requirement is carried out.

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

PTSD is a psychological and emotional illness brought on by terrifying or life threatening experiences.  Often associated with Soldiers at War but equally might apply to those held in captivity, taken hostage or placed into an acute trauma situation.  The symptoms include re-experiencing the terrible circumstances by visions or flashbacks.  This can be triggered by events that remind them of the situation e.g. a load bang bringing back a vision of a bomb exploding and seeing people killed.  The condition has only been formally recognized as PTSD since 1980, however we have know about this for a long time.  ” it was called by different names as early as the American Civil War, when combat veterans were referred to as suffering from “soldier’s heart.” In World War I, symptoms that were generally consistent with this syndrome were referred to as “combat fatigue.” Soldiers who developed such symptoms in World War II were said to be suffering from “gross stress reaction,”  Other terms in a military context have been battle fatigue and shell shock.

Personal experience relates to colleagues who completed tours of duty in Vietnam and more recently in Iraq and Afghanistan.  The brutal and often horrific conditions of war leave people extremely traumatised and re-adjustment to normal life can take months or years. To an extent Soldiers have been somewhat conditioned for this.  Those experiencing acts of Terrorism for example, ordinary civilians like those in the 9/11 bombings in New York and the IRA terrorism campaign in London, England take many years to adjust.  They often do not seek professional counselling and subsequently such horrific experiences stay with you for life.  It then becomes a question of how each individual deals with it.  (Roxanne Dryden-Edwards, 2009)

In most circumstances it becomes a life changing event.

Conformity and Obedience Hypnosis

The use of a hypnotic state that allows the patient to become relaxed and respond to stimuli in order to gather reality of a situation.  This has been used in legal contexts in order to interview witesseses accounts of a crime.  For example the witnessing of a horrific murder might have blotted the identity of the murder from the conscious mind.  The use of hypnosis to enter the sub conscious mind may reveal important information.  ” Evidence is presented which suggests that hypnotic phenomena may be usefully viewed in terms of more familiar psychological concepts such as obedience, conformity, relaxation and imagination, and that this conceptualisation has implications for the development of techniques for improving witness recall”  (Wagstaff G F , 1981)

It is considered that in professional hands this is a powerful technique in order to gain information. It can equally be used to gain conformance or obedience of the patient.  Some have termed this aspect as “brainwashing”. “When your mind is focused on only one thing, without other distractions,  that one thing makes a strong imprint. The deeper you go, the more you have isolated a particular center of the brain from competing inputs. Hypnotic obedience results from sidelining the brain’s conscious monitors and isolating the active network of neurons from competing networks”  (Anon, 2009)

I do not know of anyone being subject to this type of treatment but should this impact me personally I would need to carefully weight the ethical considerations before giving consent to such treatment.

Natural Selection

Best explained by one of Darwin’s Theories of Evolution. In particular the Beetle example.  There are Green Beetles and Brown Beetles.  Birds tend to eat Green Beetles more than Brown Beetles.  As such the population of Brown Beetles swells and ultimately the Green Beetles decline to the point of extinction whereas the Browns continue to survive and reproduce.  Eventually genetic conditions favour the Browns so all Beetles eventually turn Brown  (University of California Museum of Paleontology, 2008).

The best modern science example is the use of Anti-Biotics.  Over the years viruses have mutated and learned to become immune to the anti-biotics. Scientists have used natural selection to isolate these and produce even stronger anti-biotics. You then start to enter what has been termed as the evolutionary arms race the concept of science vs. Nature.  I think we all know people who at one time or another have required anti-biotics to treat illness.  Equally how these have been varied in order to ultimately allow the bodies immune system to vanquish the invading disease.

Cognitive Development

Jean Piaget was credited with forming the theory  behind cognitive development in psychology.  The concept is based upon the construction process of thoughts, remembering (memory), problem solving and decision making. Commencing from Childhood into Adult life.

Years ago it was thought that  that infants lacked the ability to think or form complex ideas.  As such they remained without formal cognition until they learned a language. We now know that this is not strictly true and that babies are aware of their surroundings and  the concept of  exploration from birth when they begin to actively learn. ”  They gather, sort, and process information from around them, using the data to develop perception and thinking skills. ”  (Wells, 2009)

Psychoanalytic Perspective

Associated with Sigmund  Freud this concept suggests that the human mind has a structure containing both ego and super ego.  This contains a battle for the energies of the Psyche. ” The id attempts to have basic pleasure-seeking instincts satisfied and ego works to prevent the id from expressing itself inappropriately. The superego which is similar to a conscience takes this job one step further by attempting to enforce societal, religious and/or parental values about right and wrong. ”  (Drumwright, 2009)

An identification of superego in modern times might be that of religious fanaticism or extremism enforcing a belief system like that of Sharia Law in Islamic societies.  The study of Alcoholism by Psychoanalysts reveals the types of results that many can relate to:

• Reduction of sadness anger or shame
• Replacement i.e. someone you have lost replaced by drink
• Repairing self image or disappointment of others
• Dealing with the loss of power

Works Cited

Anon. (2009). Rationalization (lying to yourself). Retrieved 12 7, 2009, from Rationalization (lying to yourself): http://www.whale.to/vaccine/rationalization_h.html

Drumwright, B. (2009). Psychoanalytic Perspective. Retrieved 12 11, 2009, from Personality Webquest: http://imet.csus.edu/imet3/drbonnie/personalitywebq/psychoanalytic.html

F, W. G. (1981, 11 20). Recall of Witnesses Under Hypnosis. Retrieved 12 9, 2009, from Science & Justice : http://www.journals.elsevierhealth.com/periodicals/jofso/article/PIIS0015736882714410/abstract

John Geddes, P. (2009). Bipolar Disorder. Retrieved 12 9, 2009, from NHS New Choices: http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/Bipolar-disorder/Pages/Introduction.aspx

Roxanne Dryden-Edwards, M. (2009). Post traumatic stress disorder. Retrieved 12 9, 2009, from Medicine Net.com: http://www.medicinenet.com/posttraumatic_stress_disorder/article.htm

University of California Museum of Paleontology. (2008, 8 22). Understanding Evolution. 2009. Retrieved 12 9, 2009, from University of California Museum of Paleontology: <http://evolution.berkeley.edu/>.

Wells, K. R. (2009). Theory of cognitive development. Retrieved 12 9, 2009, from Answers.com: http://www.answers.com/topic/cognitive-development