Why Is Bipolar Disorder Called an Illness?

Bipolar disorder is mental illness where the nerve cells in the brain fail to transmit signals. It is a disease of neurotransmitters.

Mania

• The person with bipolar disorder is suffering as he or she experiences manic highs. These highs can include reckless behavior such as shopping, gambling or sex. The person with bipolar disorder is sick and this is why he or she does not need as much sleep or food.

Depression

• This kind of depression can be just as bad or worse as regular depression. The person may lose interest in his or her activities and may need more or less sleep and food. Whichever the case, their body's cycle is in a state of disruption.

Medication

• Just as with other illnesses, the best treatment for bipolar disorder is medicinal intervention. A trained psychotherapist can put the bipolar patient on antipsychotics and mood stabilizers that will hopefully assuage the symptoms of the illness.

Percentages

• Bipolar disorder is thought to affect 1 to 2 percent of the population. When taking into consideration bipolar spectrum disorder, a less severe manifestation of the disease, the numbers are even higher. In this case it is thought that 3.7 percent of the worldwide population suffers from the disease.

Epidemiology

• As stated, bipolar depression is characterized by states of mania, depression, mixed states and hypomania, a milder form of mania. Bipolar I disorder is classified by states of mania and depression, while Bipolar II disorder is classified by states of hypomania and depression. Bipolar I is equally common in men and women, and Bipolar II is more common in women.