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Mental Health

Weathering the Extremes of Bipolar Disorder

Many people feel sluggish and down during the gray, cold months of winter but when spring begins, the whole world seems to burst with energy and life and moods seem to magically improve. However, for the 2 million American adults living with bipolar disorder, the change of seasons can mean a change in behavior; the highs are much higher and the lows, much lower. New evidence has shown that the changing of the seasons may drive some of these extremes.

In a study published in April 2004 in the Journal of Affective Disorders, a team of scientists surveyed patients with various mood disorders, including depression and bipolar disorder. At the end of the year-long survey, it was found that individuals with bipolar disorder were much more likely to have mood fluctuations with the seasons than those from the depressed or normal populations.

While the true impact of this study is yet to be seen, it may change our understanding of bipolar disorder, and ultimately the way it is treated. Karen Shin, MD, the head researcher of the study and resident in psychiatry at the Sunnybrook and Women's College Health Sciences Centre, University of Toronto, tells us about these new findings.

What is bipolar disorder?
Bipolar disorder is a type of mental illness. It's in the category of mood disorders. Patients with bipolar disorder suffer from both highs and lows in their mood. When you're high it's called a manic episode; people can feel euphoric and elated. It can lead to impairment in judgment and disruption in sleep and eating. Similarly, when people are depressed their mood drops. They feel quite down and sleeping, eating, social activities can also be disrupted.

What causes bipolar disorder?
We don't know any specific causes. We know there is a genetic component; there is an element of heredity and we believe that neurotransmitters in the brain are contributory, but we don't know the fine details of what causes it.

What are the types of bipolar disorder?
There is bipolar disorder type 1 and bipolar disorder type 2. For bipolar disorder type 1, patients suffer from a cluster of symptoms that together would be called a manic episode. That includes severe euphoria and elation and a severe impairment in functioning. People might become psychotic, become very grandiose and have hallucinations. They may or may not have a depressive episode.

For bipolar disorder type 2, patients have what's called a hypomanic episode; it's an elevated mood, but not to the same severity of a bipolar disorder type 1 manic episode. Also, they will have had a depressive episode sometime in their life as well.

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