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US rapper and apparent presidential candidate Kanye West has in the past opened up about his struggles with bipolar disorder.<\/p>\nUS rapper and apparent presidential candidate Kanye West has in the past opened up about his struggles with bipolar disorder.<\/p>\n
But his recent erratic behavior has again called into question his health and treatment.<\/p>\n
He launched his election campaign Sunday with a rambling speech that saw him rant incoherently, reveal he had wanted to abort his daughter, and break down in tears.<\/p>\n
What is the mental illness and why do many creative people seem to get it?<\/p>\n
\u2013 Highs and lows \u2013<\/p>\n
Bipolar disorder, formerly known as \u201cmanic depression,\u201d is characterized by extreme mood swings.<\/p>\n
On the one hand, patients experience very high periods known as \u201cmania\u201d when they feel energized, elated and can make reckless decisions. They sometimes also experience delusions.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey can almost have no inhibitions at all, which means they can spend their life savings in a day,\u201d said Andrew Nierenberg, a psychiatry professor at Harvard.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey can do something that\u2019s really bad judgment that they wouldn\u2019t ordinarily do, either sexually, or in relationships, or work.\u201d<\/p>\n
The other \u201cpole\u201d of the illness is depression: ultra-low episodes that can include inability to feel pleasure and suicidal thoughts.<\/p>\n
The illness affects up to three percent of the population, which makes it more common than schizophrenia but rarer than depression.<\/p>\n
And there can be much variation among patients, said Timothy Sullivan, the chair of psychiatry at Staten Island University Hospital.<\/p>\n
Some are more depressive and rarely manic, while others are the other way around.<\/p>\n
As a result, diagnoses are typically delayed for years. If a patient has so far only experienced depression, they may be misdiagnosed.<\/p>\n
West first revealed his diagnosis on his 2018 album \u201cYe,\u201d where he called it his \u201csuperpower.\u201d Last year, he revealed it caused him paranoid delusions and described being handcuffed during treatment.<\/p>\n
\u2013 Risk factors \u2013<\/p>\n
Bipolar disorder is known to be \u201cone of the more heritable mental illnesses\u201d said Katherine Burdick, a psychologist at Harvard and the Brigham and Women\u2019s Hospital.<\/p>\n
If one of your parents had the disorder, your risk is somewhere between 10 to 20 percent.<\/p>\n
Scientists are looking for the genes responsible, and trying to understand how these might affect the parts of the brain that deal with emotion.<\/p>\n
Another line of research suggests that bipolar disorder could be linked to a flaw in how cells regulate energy, said Nierenberg.<\/p>\n
There may also be environmental factors.<\/p>\n
For many, but not all patients, \u201cthere\u2019s a higher rate of childhood trauma, childhood abuse and neglect,\u201d said Burdick.<\/p>\n
Substance abuse is also a risk factor, and women sometimes develop it later in life compared to men.<\/p>\n
\u2013 COVID a trigger? \u2013<\/p>\n
The bedrock for treatment is mood stabilizing drugs, and the best of these is still lithium, which has been used since the 1940s.<\/p>\n
Anti-inflammatory drugs that reduce an abnormal immune response are being investigated as a treatment, but research is preliminary.<\/p>\n
Experts have also started to understand the role that the disruption of \u201csocial rhythms\u201d play in bipolar disorder, which has shifted more attention toward therapy.<\/p>\n
For instance, the death of a pet can trigger a depression-mania cycle, but when scientists studied such events closely, they realized patients were not driven by grief alone.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot only did the person suffer psychologically from that loss, but they used to take the dog out for walks,they got exercise, and it also got them up early in the day so that they had social interactions,\u201d said Sullivan.<\/p>\n
People with bipolar disorder are sensitive to such disruptions, which means events like the coronavirus pandemic and lockdowns can cause particular harm.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have actually had one patient who I haven\u2019t seen in more than 10 years, who I don\u2019t currently treat, who called me up out of the blue and she\u2019s clearly manic,\u201d said Sullivan.<\/p>\n
Support groups like the Depression Bipolar Support Alliance are credited with raising awareness and destigmatizing the illness.<\/p>\n
\u2013 Creative link? \u2013<\/p>\n
There is thought to be an over-representation of artists, writers and musicians among people with bipolar disorder, a subject explored in the book \u201cTouched with Fire.\u201d<\/p>\n
Figures from history who may have had the illness include Vincent Van Gogh.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u201cCreative people are distinguished by particularly unique ways of thinking that involve intense emotional experiences\u201d explained Sullivan.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt may be that that capacity for that sensitivity involves regulatory systems in the brain that also render you vulnerable to mood disorders.\u201d<\/p>\n
Some patients with bipolar disorder see their condition as an asset, even if it can alienate friends and family.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u201cResearchers have asked a group of patients with different diagnoses, \u2018If you had a button that you could press tomorrow and make this go away, would you?\u2019 said Burdick.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd the only group of patients that do not opt, more commonly than not, to press the button, are bipolar patients.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
US rapper and apparent presidential candidate Kanye West has in the past opened up about his struggles with bipolar disorder. But his recent erratic behavior has again called into question his health and treatment. He launched his election campaign Sunday with a rambling speech that saw him rant incoherently, reveal he had wanted to abort […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":60981,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[13],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\t\n