Bipolar Center LA

How far back does the prevalence bipolar disorder date historically?

Signs of bipolar disorder have been noted for many centuries. Aretaeus of Cappadocia first noted symptoms of a mental disorder that included mania and depression; what we now know as bipolar disorder. He noted symptoms of mania and depression and thought that they were somehow connected to each other. This was in the 2nd century.

Jules Falret used the term “”folie circulaire”" or circular insanity in 1854. He proposed that a link existed between depression and suicide. It was his work that led to the term bipolar disorder. He distinguished that this disorder was a different entity from that of clinical depression. In 1875, his disorder was given a name. It was Manic-Depressive Psychosis and it was classified as a psychiatric disorder. He also was the first to attribute this disorder to being a genetic problem. This concept would be revisited laterin 1952 in an article from The Hournal of Nervous and Mental Disorders

Another scientist, Francois Baillarger, did work comparing bipolar disorder to schizophrenia. This allowed bipolar disorder to be a separate entity from other mental illnesses that were defined during that time frame. In the early 1900s the term manic-depressive was established. Emil Krapelin studied at great length the effects of depression and to a lesser extent, the manic state. His ideas became the basis of psychiatry into the early 1930s.

Treatment of the disorder was sorely lacking. Even into the 1960s, many were locked away in institutions with little or no effective treatment. Even with all the research that had been done, the United States Congress refused to recognize manic depression as an illness. It wasn’t until the early 1970s, that these things began to change. Legislation was passed establishing standards in care for those who had manic-depressive disorder. The National Alliance of Mental Illness (NAMI) was founded in 1979. It created an advocacy for those whose lives were touched by mental disorders.

Manic-depressive disorder was replaced by the term bipolar disorder in 1980 as a diagnosis in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association (DSM-III). After this, research began to separate adult bipolar disorder and childhood bipolar disorder. Treatments are ever changing with the evolution of new research and new medication.

Now with the emphasis on treatment for those with bipolar disorder, several options have been determined to be most effective. Institutionalization is no longer an option and has been replaced with the bipolar treatment center, the bipolar treatment clinic, bipolar residential treatment facilities, and centers for bipolar treatment Los Angeles.

The bipolar treatment center utilizes medication and psychotherapy to maintain stabilization in the patient. The bipolar treatment clinic minimizes the use of medication and adds in a holistic approach to treatment. The bipolar residential treatment facility has taken the position of taking the harder to treat patient, those with less support or noncompliant. They eliminate the distractions of the outside world from the beginning of treatment so that the patient can focus on getting a better handle on their illness. Bipolar treatment Los Angeles centers also utilize the holistic approach to treatment. They believe that environmental aspects of treatment can be beneficial. They have warm, caring staff members and go about things in a less clinical manner.

Treatment of bipolar disorder has evolved tremendously. It has come from the depths of ignorance into the sadness of denial, and is now emerging into the evolution of re-training. We have re-trained the professionals who work with these individuals and we are re-training the patient in methods of compensating for the symptoms involved with the disorder and not simply medicating the patient.