MONDAY, MAY 8, 2006
NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN 3A
Photo illustration by Rachel Seymour/KANSAN
Bipolar patients are prescribed a variety of medications including mood stabilizers, anti-covulsant drugs, antidepressants, anti-psychotics and sedatives.
David Noffsinger/KANSAM
Leslie Niswonger, Leoti graduate student, shows off her "drama" tattoo for the camera. Niswonger has several tattoos and said that she recieved at least one tattoo impulsively during a manic episode.
Bipolar
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MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES
"I look at it to see if she's meeting too many characteristics," he said. "I guess you could say it's my guideline to what's normal."
Suicide Risk
Withdrawal from activities, family and friends can accelerate suicidal thoughts.
Bipolar disorder patients have a 20 to 25 percent increased risk of committing suicide, said William McKnelly, Jr., professor and psychiatrist at the University of Kansas Medical Center, who has specialized in treating the disorder for more than 50 years.
David Holmes, professor of psychology, said the rate for suicide among bipolar patients was higher than any other psychiatric disorder.
He said suicidal thoughts and attempts occurred most during rapid cycling when an individual was switching from manic and depressive episodes. During manic episodes, individuals might be more likely to commit suicide because they are impulsive, he said.
Hanke has attempted suicide twice before while struggling with her disorder. At 16, she held a gun to her head and pulled the trigger, but failed because she forgot to chamber another round. During a second attempt at 20, she swallowed two bottles of Tylenol caplets. Her roommate found her and brought her to the hospital where was treated with a formulation called Muconyst, an antidote for Acetaminophen poisoning, which she said tasted and smelled like rotten eggs.
Symptoms
Two alternating, broad states are associated with bipolar disorder: wild mania and deep depression. They are referred to as highs and lows, and they must have underlying, more specific symptoms to be diagnosed.
Want more information about bipolar disorder?
Check out these organizations to assist you in your search;
Mania, according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-Fourth Edition, is classified as having a euphoric mood, along with three or more other major manic symptoms for one week. Major manic symptoms can include: irritability, less need for sleep, inflated self-esteem or grandiosity, delusions and impulsiveness.
American Psychiatric Association
(703) 907-7300
http://www.psych.org/
Bipolar and Depression Support Alliance
Toll free: (800) 826-3632
http://www.dbsalliance.org/
National Institute of Mental Health
(301) 443-4513
Toll free: (866) 615-6464
http://www.nimh.nih.gov/
National Mental Health Association
(703) 684-7722
Toll free: (800) 969-6642
http://www.nmha.org/
Bert Nash Mental Health Center (785) 843-9192 http://www.bertnash.org/
Niswonger suffers from a milder form of mania called hypomania, in which she has the same manic symptoms, but they are less severe. Her symptoms last at least four consecutive days, and individuals with alternating episodes of hypomania and severe depression are diagnosed
Niswonger recalled one manic situation when she decided she had to do something drastic
about her messy home. Instead of doing the laundry or picking up around the house, she irrationally decided the kitchen cabinets needed a full makeover. She got out a drill and took off all the cabinet doors, only to become bored with the project after an hour. She said her kitchen cabinets were doorless for more than a year,
until family helped finish the project.
Hanke said that during her highs, she slept two to three hours a night, compared to the 16 she sleeps during her depressive state. She said she engaged in "risky" behaviors, like speeding through red stop lights.
with Bipolar II Disorder.
Individuals with bipolar can be deeply depressed for two weeks or more. They suffer from a decreased interest in pleasure, fatigue, feelings of guilt and worthlessness and diminished a ability to concentrate.
While Niswonger suffers from rapid cycles of depression and mania that could last for an hour and switch, Hanke's cycles are much longer. She said she tended to be depressed most of the time, but she had experienced three to five manic high cycles.
Niswonger has what her physicians call rapid cycles; cycling that occurs at least four times each one year.
McKnelly said the problem with diagnosing any form of the disorder was the fact that the depression, not mania or highs, was often the only symptom complained about. Often the person is diagnosed first as having depression unless a physician sees a patient with different mood alterations including manic symptoms.
Psychotic symptoms, like those found in individuals with schizophrenia, are also common in those with bipolar disorder. Hanke's belief that she could fly was part of a delusion, or irrational belief, that accompanied her thought disruptions.
Hanke said she once believed that energy beams in the air were amplified by cell phones, so she went through a period of time when she wouldn't talk to people with cell phones.
A hallucination, or the sense of seeing or hearing something that doesn't exist, is another psychotic symptom associated with the disorder. Niswonger said she had periodically heard voices since she was 11 years old.
Diagnosis
"No one goes to the dentist because their teeth feel too good," he explained.
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THIS WEEK ON CAMPUS
May 8,2006