Catatonia and Bipolar Disorder

Catatonia is an extreme mental illness that often occurs with other diseases or conditions, including catatonic behavior. Catatonic disorders are disturbances in muscular movement resulting from a psychological state. Catatonia is a condition characterized by a psychomotor disturbance, an interruption of normal movement. Catatonia is an extreme mental illness that often occurs with other diseases or conditions.  Catatonic features occur most often in schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder and similar conditions, but can occur with bipolar disorders and major depressive disorder. In some cases, catatonia may also be an extreme side effect of a medication. Stupor is a lack of response to external stimuli, no response to being spoken to or prodded. A person will frequently sit in one position, unable to move for days, weeks, months or even years.
Extremely depressed people diagnosed with catatonic schizophrenia can experience catatonic states. This can leave them unmoving for weeks. A less extreme symptom of catatonic disorder is slowed-down motor activity. Often, the body position or posture of a catatonic person is unusual or inappropriate; in addition, he or she may hold a position if placed in it by someone else. These depressed persons may remain virtually motionless, or move around in an extremely vigorous but apparently random fashion. Extreme negativism, elective mutism (choosing not to speak), peculiar movements, and imitating someone else's words or phrases (echolalia) or movements (echopraxia) may also be part of the symptoms. These behaviors may require caregivers to supervise the patient, to insure that he or she does not hurt him- or herself or others
Bipolar depression is not the only mental disorder that can trigger a catatonic state. Mania or mixed moods can cause a person to become immobile. Catatonic behaviors may also occur in persons with other mood disorders. Persons experiencing manic or mixed mood states (a simultaneous combination of manic and depressive symptoms) may at times exhibit either the immobility or agitated random activity seen in catatonia. A severely depressed person may experience intense emotional pain from simply moving a finger. Even getting up out of a chair can be a painful chore that may take hours for the severely depressed individual. As the depression begins to lift, the catatonic symptoms diminish.
Mood disorders are believed to be at least partially caused by irregularities in production of neurotransmitters within the brain. Neurotransmitters are chemicals that send and receive impulses from one nerve cell to another. Two of the most important neurotransmitters associated with depression are norepinephrine and serotonin. Dopamine is another neurotransmitter that plays a role in the development of depressive disorders.
Treatment of catatonic symptoms due to mood disorder involves therapy directed at the underlying mood disorder. Manic episodes are treated with such mood stabilizers as lithium and Depakote. Depressive episodes are treated with antidepressant medications or, if necessary, electroconvulsive treatment
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When the catatonia is a side effect of the medication; the symptoms will often disappear after the medication wi stopped.

Anxiety Attacks Signs and Symptoms

We all know what an attack of anxiety feels like. They are natural reactions to stress. However, if worries, fears, or anxiety attacks seem to be controlling the way you live your and are preventing you from living your life the way you normally did, you may be suffering from an anxiety disorder.
There are many anxiety treatments and self-help strategies that can help to reduce your anxiety symptoms.

It is normal to worry and feel tense or scared when under pressure or facing a stressful situation. Anxiety is the body’s response to danger, an automatic signal when it feels threatened.
Anxiety can help you stay alert and focused, prod you to action, and motivate you to solve problems. But when anxiety is constant or overwhelming, when it interferes with relationships and activities that is when it becomes an anxiety disorder.
If you have or have had some of the following signs and symptoms, that linger, you may be suffering from an anxiety disorder.
Are you constantly tense, worried? Does your anxiety interfere with your work, school, or family responsibilities? Are you overwhelmed by fears that you know are irrational, but cannot shake them? Do you avoid everyday situations or activities because they cause you to feel anxious? Are you experiencing sudden, unexpected attacks of heart-pounding panic? Do you feel like danger and disaster are likely to happen any moment?
Anxiety disorders are a group of conditions rather than a single disorder; they vary from person to person. A person may undergo intense anxiety attacks that strike without warning, while another gets panicky at the thought of driving on the expressway. Someone may be disabled with the fear of a social event, or another person may have uncontrollable, intrusive thoughts and live in a constant state of tension, worrying about anything and everything.
Regardless of the different forms, all anxiety disorders one prominent symptom: persistent or severe fear or worry in situations where most people wouldn’t feel threatened.
In addition to the primary symptoms of irrational and excessive fear and worry, other common emotional symptoms of anxiety include: feelings of apprehension or dread, feeling tense and jumpy, anticipating the worst, trouble concentrating.
Anxiety is more than just a feeling. Anxiety involves a wide range of physical symptoms. Because of the physical symptoms, people often mistake their anxiety disorder for a medical illness. Common physical symptoms are tremors, sweating, pounding heart, headaches, fatigue, and shortness of breath, a choking feeling, stomach upset or diarrhea, insomnia.
Many people with anxiety disorders also suffer from depression. The depression makes anxiety worse it is important to treat both conditions.
Anxiety attacks ¬are episodes of intense panic or fear. Anxiety attacks usually occur suddenly and without warning. Sometimes there’s a trigger but in other cases, the attacks come out of the blue.
Anxiety attacks usually climax within ten minutes, and they rarely last more than thirty minutes. The physical symptoms of anxiety attacks are so terrifying that many people believe they’re having a heart attack.
It is important to get help if you’re starting to avoid certain situations or places because you’re afraid of having a panic attack. Anxiety attacks are highly treatable.
If constant worries and fears distract you from your day-to-day activities or you’re troubled by a persistent feeling that something bad is going to happen, you may be suffering from generalized anxiety disorder. These people are chronic worrywarts who feel anxious nearly all of the time, though they may not even know why. This type of anxiety related to often shows up as physical symptoms like insomnia, stomach upset, restlessness, and fatigue
If your lifestyle is unhealthy and stressful, you’re more likely to feel anxious with or without an anxiety disorder.
If your stress levels are very high, think about how you can bring your life back into balance. There may be responsibilities you can give up, turn down, or hand over to others. If you’re feeling isolated, find someone you trust to talk to; just talking about your worries can make them seem less frightening. Worrying about all the things that could go wrong keeps you from enjoying the good things that are happening.
Practice relaxation techniques. When practiced regularly, relaxation techniques such as meditation and deep breathing can reduce anxiety symptoms and increase feelings of relaxation and emotional well-being.
Develop healthy eating habits. Start the day right with breakfast, and continue with frequent small meals throughout the day. Going too long without eating leads to low blood sugar, which can make you feel more anxious.
Reduce alcohol and nicotine. They lead to more anxiety, not less.
Exercise regularly. Exercise releases stress and are an anxiety reliever. To achieve the maximum benefit, get at least 30 minutes a day.
Get enough sleep. A lack of sleep can aggravate anxious thoughts and feelings, so try to get 7 to 9 hours of quality sleep a night
If your worries and fears have become so great that they’re causing extreme distress or disrupting your daily routine, it is important to get help from a doctor. Your doctor can check to make sure that your anxiety isn’t caused by a medical condition, such as a thyroid problem, hypoglycemia, or some other illness.
If a medical cause is ruled out, consult with a doctor experienced in treating anxiety attacks and anxiety disorders. The doctor diagnoses the cause and type of your anxiety disorder and work out a treatment plan.
Anxiety disorders respond very well to treatment. The treatment depends on the type of anxiety disorder and its severity. Most anxiety disorders are treated with behavioral therapy, medication, or a combination of the both.
Anxiety medications can be habit forming and may cause side effects. It’s important to weigh the benefits and risks so you can make the decision about whether anxiety medication is the right treatment for you.
A variety of medications, including benzodiazepines and antidepressants, are used in the treatment of anxiety disorders. Medication may sometimes be used short-term to relieve severe anxiety symptoms so that other forms of therapy can be engaged in.

Borderline Personality Disorder

Borderline personality disorder is an emotional disorder that affects emotional stability; it leads to stress and various other problems.

When you have borderline personality disorder your image of yourself is distorted, you feel worthless and fundamentally imperfect.   Many people with borderline personality disorder get better with treatment and can live happy, fulfilling lives

Borderline personality disorder is a described as a prolonged disturbance of personality function in a person over the age of eighteen years, although adolescents can be diagnosed with it, characterized an inconsistency of moods.  The disorder typically involves unusual levels of instability in mood; black and white thinking; the disorder often manifests itself in chaotic and unstable self image, interpersonal relationships and behavior; including a disturbance in the individual's self worth.

 Borderline personality disorder splitting includes switching between idealizing and demonizing others.  Combined with mood disturbances, can damage relationships with family, friends, and co-workers. Borderline personality disorder may include self utilization. Without treatment, symptoms may worsen, leading to suicide attempts.

Borderline personality disorder is a mental disorder that belongs to the group of mental illnesses called personality disorders. It is characterized by a consistent pattern of thinking, feeling, and interacting with others and with the world that tends to cause significant problems for the person. Specifically, Borderline personality disorder is associated with a pattern of unstable ways of seeing oneself, feeling, behaving, and relating to others that drastically interferes with the individual's ability to function.

Borderline personality disorder has had symptoms that include both mood problems and distortions of reality psychosis, and was thought to be on the borderline between mood problems and schizophrenia. It can occur equally in men and women in general, while primarily in women in groups

While men with Borderline personality disorder can also have a substance-use disorder; it is more often associated with eating disorders symptoms in women. Adults who have antisocial personality disorder may be more likely to also have Borderline personality disorder.

  

Some researchers consider it to be a variation of bipolar disorder; research supports the theory that Borderline personality disorder has many distinctive and complex ways.  It can be a combination with bipolar or another mental disorder. Still others will have Borderline personality exclusively.

Borderline personality disorder is difficult to treat. The return of symptoms is a common problem. Many people have difficult relationships with their therapists or doctors. But it is possible to recover from the destructive behaviors of Borderline personality disorder.

When you are diagnosed, you will begin treatment with professional psychotherapy. The first goal of therapy is to help you control destructive behaviors, especially if you are feeling suicidal or self-destructive. When the danger to harm yourself decreases and you are able to function better, treatment will focus on managing your emotions, such as controlling feelings of anger or unhappiness.