Lithium And Treatment Of Bipolar Disorder - 1820 Words

Lithium in the Treatment of Bipolar Disorder Bipolar disorder is a serious illness that can upset a person’s entire life if they do not receive proper medical or therapeutic treatment to manage the presenting symptoms. Bipolar disorder includes an array of moods that can range from extreme highs (mania, hypomania) and extreme lows (bipolar depression) that can be treated by medication. One medication that works well in treating the highs and lows, while preventing further mood upsets is lithium. Lithium has effectively treated mood instability associated with bipolar disorder for decades and, while being such a widely used drug, the positive and negative side effects have to be examined, along with other medication options in the†¦show more content†¦Because these mood changes or episodes can be drastic enough to need medical intervention or treatment they can have a large impact on the person’s day to day living, often times upsetting normal routine and intera ction. For some people with bipolar disorder a routine is an essential part of their day to day life, therefore an upset of routine because of an episode may worsen the episode or increase the likelihood of it happening again. If a person with bipolar does not have the ability to cope or the medical intervention in the illness the problems that can arise from relapsing include employment difficulties, marriage problems, alcohol or drug abuse, and a higher risk of suicide than the general population (Dinan, 2002). People with bipolar disorder face a suicide rate that is around three times as high as the general population (Oral, 2014) due to factors that their disorder present. These contributing factors include, but are not limited to: â€Å"early age at disease onset, the high number of depressive episodes, comorbid alcohol abuse, a history of antidepressant-induced mania, and traits of hostility and impulsivity† (Sobel, 2012). People may feel a loss of control in their life or illness because of these factors or vice versa. Around 10-20% of people with bipolar disorder commit suicide (Dinan, 2002), which makes the illness