Major depression is expressed by an individual having a depressed mood most of the time, especially in the morning. An individual lacks interests when exercising their daily routines and even in relationships. Bipolar disorder is a type of mental illness resulting in unusual moods, activity levels, and energy, losing concentration, and an individual's ability to perform his/her normal duties effectively (NIH, n.d.) . The main reason for choosing this type of disorder is to understand the major differences between the two conditions and understand how the two illnesses affect the behavior of individuals. Additionally, they are common types of disorders that affect individuals in society, thereby triggering my curiosity to understand their causes and treatment.
Bipolar disorder and major depression share some common similarities. Both are mental health conditions that lead to changes in the individual moods such as high emotions. Individuals with either of these disorders experience moods of hopelessness, sadness, losing interests, and pleasures in their most activities. Both disorders make individuals experience periods of depression. In both mental illnesses, individuals may have problems sleeping due to the effects of exhaustion and weakness, which makes the mind uncomfortable to rest. Both mental disorders can lead to individual’s self-isolation where they feel bad about themselves, hence, lower self-esteem due to the messages they receive from society about their mental illnesses, which can be disrespectful to them. This may make the individuals avoid relationships since they might feel inadequate to associate with other people, and hence, they may move away from existing relationships. Both major depression and bipolar disorder can be treated through psychotherapy and medications. The sick people can be offered counselors who can guide them through therapy to recover, or they can be given medicine, such as lithium, to help treat the illnesses.
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However, the two disorders differ in the following ways; many individuals with bipolar disorder may experience a minimum of one depressive illness while in major depressive illness, individuals may lack even an episode (MAcGill, 2019) . Also, individuals with major depression do not have any extreme or high feelings that medical practitioners may classify as mania, but in bipolar disorder, there are experiences of elevated feelings. Moreover, major depression has no known cause, but a combination of several factors, such as stress and genes, impacts brain chemistry, and reduces an individual’s capability to maintain their stable moods. On the other hand, bipolar disorder results from complicated relationships between environmental and genetic factors; risks of developing bipolar disorder include having a first degree relative to the problem, substance abuse, and stress form traumatic events (Rowland & Marwaha, 2018) . Additionally, major depression causes individuals to lose their energy, while bipolar depression makes individuals gain a lot of energy.
Major depression reduces an individual's interest in the activities that they do enjoy, such as sexual desires, because their energy has decreased and they feel bad towards themselves and may have a negative filter towards their partners that would affect the sex desires (Thakurta et al., 2012) . On the other hand, the bipolar disorder, the mania burdens an individual sex drive by raising the sexual impulses that are not typical when one is not experiencing mania. For example, an individual may have increased sexual activity without being satisfied. In treating these mental disorders, individuals with bipolar disorder typically require assistance, medications, and needs to be supported throughout their life. On major depression, individuals are prescribed with drugs such as SSRIs and SNRIs together with counseling, and the illness can either be for a short period of long-period depending on whether the illness is recurrent or not. Therefore, there is a need for the government and the health sectors to take necessary actions to help the individual suffering from mental illnesses.
References
MAcGill, M. (2019, February 22). The differences between bipolar disorder and depression . Retrieved from MEDICALNEWSTODAY: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/314582
NIH. (n.d.). Bipolar Disorder . Retrieved from National Institute of Mental Health: https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/bipolar-disorder/index.shtml#:~:text=Bipolar%20disorder%20(formerly%20called%20manic,three%20types%20of%20bipolar%20disorder.
Rowland, T. A., & Marwaha, S. (2018). Epidemiology and risk factors for bipolar disorder. Therapeutic Advances in Psychopharmacology, 8 (9), 251-269.
Thakurta, R. G., Singh, O. P., Bhattacharya, A., Mallick, A. K., Ray, P., Sen, S., & Das, R. (2012, Oct-Dec). Nature of Sexual Dysfunctions in Major Depressive Disorder and its Impact on Quality of Life. Indian Journal of Psychological Medicine, 34 (4), 365-370. doi:10.4103/0253-7176.108222
