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Bipolar Disorder Medication: Lithium and Abilify

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Assume your 28-year-old male patient has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. His family physician has prescribed lithium or Abilify. Use your text readings and the article you located in the studies activity and write a discussion post as follows:
•Explain what neurotransmission may be causing the bipolar disorder.
•Describe how lithium or Abilify can help this patient.
•Create a dialogue in which you, the psychologist or counselor, explain to the patient what is happening to him in terms he can understand.

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Solution Summary

The solution provides information, assistance and advise in tackling the task (see above) on the topic of Bipolar Disorder medication treatment. Resources are listed for further exploration of the topic.

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Bipolar Disorder and Treatment

Bipolar disorder (BPD) is characterized by extremes of mood displayed within a short span of time. Accorsing to the NHS (2016),Bipolar disorder is widely believed to be the result of chemical imbalances in the brain. The chemicals responsible for controlling the brain's functions are called neurotransmitters and include noradrenaline, serotonin and dopamine...if there's an imbalance in the levels of one or more neurotransmitters, a person may develop some symptoms of bipolar disorder...there's evidence that episodes of mania may occur when levels of noradrenaline are too high, and episodes of depression may be the result of noradrenaline levels becoming too low." While other causes are also argued and observed (genetics, social, environmental), the neurotransmitters misfiring in the human brain is seen as a cause that can be mitigated and as such subjected to treatment.

Medication

Lithium has been used for sometime now to treat BPD. According to WebMD(2016),"Studies show that lithium can significantly reduce suicide risk. Lithium also helps ...

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