Website Find: MentalHealth.com

Eureka! I made a wonderful discovery recently, of a website that really spoke to me as a Bipolar individual. On MentalHealth.com, there is a huge page dedicated to Bipolar disorder, including a gigantic section of weblinks to resource and other sources. This is definitely the best webpage I've found so far on the subject.

Here are some of the new findings that I thought most relevant or interesting to me on the site:

• Bipolar I Disorder is a life-long disease and runs in families but has a complex mode of inheritance
• About half of all patients with Bipolar I Disorder have one parent who also has a mood disorder, usually Major Depressive Disorder.
• Mania can be triggered by giving birth, sleep deprivation, and major stressful life events.
• a variety of imaging studies suggests the involvement of structural abnormalities in the amygdala, basal ganglia and prefrontal cortex. Research is now showing that this disorder is associated with abnormal brain levels of serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine.
• The first episode may occur at any age from childhood to old age. The average age at onset is 21.
• Bipolar I Disorder may develop psychotic symptoms. The psychotic symptoms in Bipolar I Disorder only occur during severe manic, mixed or depressive episodes. In contrast, the psychotic symptoms in Schizophrenia can occur when there is no mania or depression.
• the majority of bipolar patients are noncompliant and stop their medication after one year.
• Women with bipolar disorder lose, on average, 9 years in life expectancy, 14 years of lost productivity and 12 years of normal health.
• Monotherapy (treatment with just one medication) for Bipolar Disorder is usually inadequate, and most patients require a combination of a mood-stabilizer and antipsychotic medication.
• Untreated depressive episodes usually last 11 weeks
• Untreated pure manic episodes usually last 6 weeks
• Untreated mixed (manic+depressive) episodes usually last 17 weeks
• Within 2-4 years of first lifetime hospitalization for mania, 43% achieved functional recovery, and 57% switched or had new illness episodes.