Chapter 8 - Treatments for Bipolar Disorders

Question 1

Treatments for Bipolar Disorders include:

Answer 1

lithium and mood stabilizing drugs/anti-bipolar drugs, and atypical antipsychotics drugs that specifically help treat MANIC episodes

Question 2

What is lithium?

Answer 2

A metallic element that occurs in nature as a mineral salt. Effective for reducing bipolar symptoms, discovered by John Cade

Question 3

Mood stabilizers as prophylactic drugs?

Answer 3

Prophylactic drugs help prevent symptoms from developing, must continue drugs or high chance of relapsing

Question 4

True or false these drugs also help depressive episodes?

Answer 4

True but to a lesser extent than they manic episodes

Question 5

How do therapists treat bipolar disorder?

Answer 5

Combination of both mood stabilizers and antidepressant drugs

Question 6

True or false some antidepressants can cause manic episodes in some patients?

Answer 6

True

Question 7

First theory about why mood stabilizers help bipolar disorder?

Answer 7

Suggest that the drugs change synaptic activity in neurons

Question 8

What are second messengers?

Answer 8

Chemical changes within a neuron just after the neuron receives a neurotransmitter message and just before it responds, relay the original message from the receipt site to the firing mechanism of the neutron

Question 9

Who are the first messengers?

Answer 9

Neurotransmitters

Question 10

Mood stabilizers affect which messengers?

Answer 10

A neurons’ second messenger

Question 11

Antidepressants affect which messengers?

Answer 11

A neurons’ first messenger

Question 12

Second theory about why mood stabilizers help bipolar disorder?

Answer 12

Lithium and other mood stabilizing drugs increase the production of a protein called brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and other proteins within certain neurons whose job is to prevent cell death. Therefore, increasing the health and functioning of those cells

Question 13

Third theory about why mood stabilizers help bipolar disorder?

Answer 13

Lithium and other mood stabilizing drugs improve the functioning of or communications between key structures in the brain

Question 14

Lithium’s link to brain structures?

Answer 14

Lithium increases the size of the hippocampus and the amount of gray matter in bipolar patients

Question 15

What is Adjunctive psychotherapy?

Answer 15

Individual, group, or family therapy as an adjunct to mood stabilizing drugs

Question 16

Purpose of Adjunctive psychotherapy?

Answer 16

Emphasize the importance of continuing to take medications, to improve social skills and relationships that may be affected by bipolar episodes, educate patients and families about bipolar disorders, etc.

Question 17

True or false, psychotherapies is more useful for cyclothymic disorder?

Answer 17

True