When considering TMS in Philadelphia, the description of the procedure seems like something out of a science-fiction novel. The brain being affected by magnetic coils? It certainly sounds far-fetched, but it is actually very sound science. TMS takes this brain-magnet relationship a step further. Instead of just passively looking and observing as the brain sets […]
Now that we know something about the illness and how it presents let’s move on to treatment. The treatment of bipolar I and II disorder is essentially the same. The goal of treatment in both disorders is to stabilize mood, treat hypomania or mania, treat depression and for the long run prevent relapses back into […]
Back to hypomania. It is important for many reasons not least of which is that it is very easy to miss. Patients will remember their depressions very clearly as the pain of them is not easily forgotten. However, hypomania wash over and don’t have the same dramatic intensity as mania. By definition if one gets […]
Back to hypomania. It is quite unfortunate that many patients with bipolar disorder wait for many years fruitlessly seeing psychiatrists until the correct diagnosis is made. According to data collected by the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance (DBSA) (www.dbsalliance.org)about 60% of patients ultimately diagnosed with bipolar disorder had the illness for at least 5 years […]
We have talked about hypomania and mania but I haven’t said much about depression. It is very common in bipolar disorder and often follows right on from a period of mania or hypomania. It is as though the patient crash lands into depression. The higher you were the worse is the fall into depression. Bipolar […]
Bipolar disorder is a common mood disorder which is characterized by extremes of mood from depression to mania. It effects about 3% of the population and in its more severe form is equally common in men and women. It is distinct from major depression. The latter is characterized by bouts of severe depression. In contrast […]
