Can the mind also catch a cold? And it’s quite serious!!!

Audit expert: Li Xianhong

National Level 2 Psychological Counselor

A survey shows that more than 300 million people suffer from depression worldwide, with an increase of about 18% in the past decade, including more than 50 million patients in China. In recent years, people have gradually paid more attention to depression, while bipolar disorder, which is also a mental disorder, is still not well known.

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What is the difference between bipolar disorder and depression?

Both bipolar disorder and depression are mental disorders, and are medically known as bipolar or unipolar disorder . The full name of bipolar disorder is manic depression, and its scientific name is bipolar disorder. The specific symptoms are characterized by high or low emotions. When the patient is ill, he may have repeated attacks of mania or depression, or the two states may alternate in a cyclical manner; while depression is mainly a depressive state, and there will be no manic state.

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Bipolar disorder often develops between the ages of 20 and 35, while depression is most common between the ages of 30 and 35. According to relevant surveys, bipolar disorder is a huge potential risk for pregnant women at any time. Compared with bipolar disorder, depression is more common and can occur at any age. It is like a "cold" among mental illnesses.

In terms of treatment, patients with bipolar disorder will use antipsychotics and mood stabilizers, while the main treatment for patients with depression is antidepressants, such as serotonin reuptake inhibitors; in terms of disease prognosis, the prognosis of patients with bipolar disorder is worse than that of patients with depression, and clinically, the cure rate of depression is also higher.

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What are the causes of bipolar disorder?

The formation of bipolar disorder is affected by many factors, which to some extent increases the difficulty of its treatment and makes it a complex emotional disorder that cannot be cured. Current research shows that the causes of bipolar disorder can be divided into two aspects: biological and social psychology.

From a biological perspective, there are many factors, including genetics, neural internalization, etc. Studies have shown that the slow or active function of norepinephrine often causes depression and bipolar disorder. In genetics, a large part of the cause of bipolar disorder is related to genetics. The closer the blood relationship, the higher the probability of inheritance and the greater the incidence.

Schematic diagram of the structure of norepinephrine Source: Baidu Encyclopedia

From the social and psychological perspective, it mainly includes adverse stressful events and physical environmental events . In short, a series of unpredictable changes such as the death of a loved one and failed marriages in daily life lead to long-term mental tension and loss of psychological balance, thus promoting the occurrence of bipolar disorder.

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How to Relieve Bipolar Disorder

Bipolar disorder is a cyclical, relapsing disease that cannot be completely cured with today's medical level. However, if timely intervention is made in the early stages of the disease and attention is paid to the progression of the disease after treatment to avoid relapses, the disease can be well controlled and not affect the patient's daily life.

1. Medication and psychotherapy

The diagnosis and treatment of bipolar disorder should be based on drug treatment, supplemented by psychological intervention and psychotherapy. Drug treatment varies from person to person. According to the different conditions of the patients, safe, appropriate and stable drugs should be used, and antipsychotics and antidepressants should be used in combination according to the progression of the disease. Currently, the most commonly used anti-manic drug on the market is lithium carbonate, which can effectively treat the patient's mania while inhibiting the onset of depression. In the use of physiological salt-based treatment, the patient's interval between attacks can be extended and the frequency of attacks can be reduced, thereby achieving the purpose of termination.

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Bipolar disorder can make patients abnormally irritable when they are ill, so compared with patients with depression, medical staff and family members should pay more attention and comfort to bipolar patients to avoid angering them. At the same time, patients should be given enough rest time to ensure that they can actively cooperate with treatment.

Most patients with bipolar disorder are unable to concentrate and are often in a low mood, which leads to poor medication compliance and reduced interest. Therefore, as family members or caregivers, you need to supervise patients to take medications on time, and often take patients to lively and crowded environments to explore their interests and hobbies, participate in cheerful entertainment activities, and mobilize patients' enthusiasm for life.

Companionship and support are very important Source｜unsplash

2. How to avoid a relapse of bipolar disorder

First of all, it is an important prerequisite for patients to receive scientific and reasonable treatment to prevent relapse. Single, blind treatment often cannot cure mental illness well. While restoring the patient's body functions, it is also necessary to stimulate the patient's body's self-healing ability and enhance resistance to effectively prevent the recurrence of bipolar disorder. Secondly, in addition to appropriate medications and psychological interventions, patients also need to cooperate with scientific and reasonable lifestyles, eating habits, sports and other self-disciplined methods to adjust the patient's body's healing ability.

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For bipolar disorder, the root of everything is the patient himself. Only when the patient's mentality returns to health can it be cured. Therefore, only by doing a good job of self-regulation can one stop the disease from destroying oneself.