Essay about Bipolar Disorder and Zaps Bipolar Experiment

I chose the Zaps Bipolar experiment because my dad has Bipolar disorder. Ive seen first hand how Bipolar disorder intervenes in a persons life and affects their mood. Ive also learned how to recognize the symptoms typical of a manic phase and depressive episode. The purpose of this experiment is just that: to explain the typical symptoms of a manic episode and a depressive episode, and the most salient differences between the two. In addition, the experiment aims to introduce two patients with different mood disorders; one with bipolar disorder, one with depression, in order to identify and contrast the two disorders. I was first introduced to Del, a 55-year-old man diagnosed with a mood disorder. The experiment began with a video of†¦show more content†¦The next part of the experiment was to identify which disorder Del suffered from, which I deduced was Bipolar disorder (as was explained in the intro). It was explained that since Del suffers from both manic and depressive e pisodes, the answer is Bipolar disorder since depression only includes depressive episodes, while Bipolar disorder includes depressive and manic episodes. Next in the experiment, I was given 4 graphs and asked to pick which represented the best schematic representation of both symptoms of manic and depressive episodes and the transition between them. I chose graph four, which represented the episodes by a straight line (the midpoint) and even curves varying between both sections, not in a sudden decline to either plane, but a slower transition. On the next part of the experiment, it was explained that Lithium is typically used to treat bipolar disorder and I was asked to answer why anti-depressants are not typically used to treat bipolar disorder, while they are used to treat depression. Anti-depressants are not typically used because if the patient is having a depressive episode, taking an anti-depressant can lead to a manic phase. Next in the experiment, I was given a schematic r epresentation of Bipolar disorder and asked to manipulate the arrows on the graph to indicate what kind of effect Lithium has on depressive and manic episodes. I manipulated the arrows to move the line to create a straight line between graph