Expert: Ivan Goldberg, M.D. - 5/24/2006

Question
My sister, she s 25, was diagnosed with bi-polar about 6 years ago. My father, he s 56, was diagnosed with Bi-polar about a year ago. I was just recently diagnosed with bipolar; I m 27 years old.    I am currently taking 100mg lamictal twice a day and 40mg of celexa once a day.     I m still depressed and I feel out of control. I feel like I can t control my life in that I don t sleep like I should; I don t eat much, I m addicted to the internet, I feel like I have abandonment issues but I m confident that I don t have a characterlogical disorder, I m rambling here which is evidence of my bipolar, god help me! hehe I am late for most of my appointments, I m a grad student and I ve been irresponsible, and I m being irresponsible in pretty much all facets of my life. It s become somewhat of a vicious cycle and I feel like I have no control over anything.    Now here is my question: Are there any other ways I might be able to gain stability and control over my life? Could this lack of control have a chemical basis?     Now here is another issue... I notice that when my father seems to be having an episode of depression or mania or marital problems with my mother I start to feel sick. Is there any evidence to suggest that a bipolar parent having an episode can influence the child to have symptoms? I notice when my father seems sick his house becomes a mess, nothing gets done, everything seems chaotic and out of control. I see my life as a parallel to his. What s your input on all of this?   I know this is a lot of stuff to ask you but please give me something to chew on.    J  

Answer
Hi, Jason . . .

People with bipolar disorder often have a hard time remaining organized especially during periods of time when they have manic and/or depressive symptoms. The optimal treatment for people with bipolar disorder involves both psychotherapy and psychopharmacologic treatment. One of the chief aims of the psychotherapy should be devoted to such simple things as organizing ones space, organizing one time and establishing the social rhythms necessary to maintain a reasonable mood.

Take a look at:
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=30240

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=1...

http://archpsyc.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/short/62/9/996

Best regards . . .

Ivan
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