Left Temporal Lobe Seizure Disorder & Childhood Bipolar Disorder

Bipolar disorder is a psychological disorder in which a person's moods are so powerful they can impair that person's ability to function. Left temporal lobe seizure disorder or epilepsy is a medical condition that causes seizures, or times of uncontrolled electrical activity in the temporal lobes, which are found on either side of the brain around the ears. Both of these conditions affect children and adults. Many people think bipolar disorder and epilepsy are similar because they are sometimes treated with the same medications, but they do not seem to overlap very often. However, depression and epilepsy are often found in the same person, suggesting some relationship between those two conditions.

Bipolar Disorder

• The most common type of bipolar disorder is marked by periods of intense clinical depression, times where a person is sad and tired more often than not, and periods of mania, a phase where a person is overly excited, irritable or happy to the point of impairment or even danger. Another type of bipolar disorder occurs when a person shows the clinical depression, but his or her stages of mania are mild or moderate. Bipolar disorder is often treated with a combination of psychotherapy and medication.

Left Temporal Lobe Epilepsy

• Left temporal lobe epilepsy can be difficult to explain, because when a person has a seizure, he can have a variety of experiences, and each person may react differently to them. The person having the seizure may hallucinate or recall memories, or taste or smell something strange. During the episode, he or she may simply pause and not respond to others or she may make repetitive movements like rubbing his or her hands together. Epilepsy is usually treated with medication.

Epilepsy and Bipolar Disorder in Children

• Bipolar disorder can start in childhood, but it is much more common to see the disorder start in young adulthood. If bipolar disorder starts in childhood, it is usually much more severe over the course of a lifetime. Bipolar disorder can be genetic, so if a family member has it, the risk of other family members showing symptoms is higher. Temporal lobe epilepsy, on the other hand, can start at any age. It can be caused by an infection that affects the brain or a head injury, or it can happen for reasons that are not known. About half of the children who have temporal lobe epilepsy will see their seizures happen less frequently as they get older, and the seizures may disappear altogether. Usually seizures can be controlled with medication.

Connections between Epilepsy and Bipolar Disorder

• Epilepsy and bipolar disorder are not frequently co-morbid, which means they do not often occur in the same person. However, they can sometimes be treated with the same medication. Anti-epileptic drugs such as lamotrigine, which control seizures, can also be mood-stabilizers. Mood-stabilizers are drugs that keep a person's moods and emotions from fluctuating wildly and being too extreme. The National Institute for Mental Health lists these mood-stabilizing drugs as one of the first options for treating someone with bipolar disorder.

Epilepsy and Depression

• A study done by Sigita Plioplys at Northwestern University in Chicago showed that depression is common in children and teenagers with epilepsy. These children and teenagers are also at a high risk for suicide, so it is important that they get the necessary treatment. It is important that treatment regimens take into account both conditions. A study done by Keith Edwards at the Southwestern Vermont Medical Center showed that lamotrigine can treat both seizures and depressive symptoms, making it and possibly other anti-epileptic drugs options for people with both these conditions.