Lithium Essays -- Chemistry Medical Chemical Papers

Lithium Though the drug lithium is used for a number of disorders ranging from acute depression to eating and personality disorders (Paykel, 1992), it's primary use is for bipolar disorder, also known as manic depression. Patients with bipolar disorder "between two poles: depression and its opposite, mania" (Kalat,2004), often with periods of normal behavior in between (Jamison,1993). In addition, the patient is also prone to "mixed episodes" in which symptoms of both mania and depression are present. Intensity of these episodes can range from mild to dangerous, as in the case of a manic depressive mother who severed the arms of her 10 month old daughter (Associated Press, 2005). Despite its genetic origin (Kalat. 2004; Jamison, 1993; DBSA, 2005), the onset of symptoms and behavior is rather late, averaging 18 years of age (Jamison, 1993). There are two types of manic episodes: manic and hypomanic. The DSM describes a manic episode as "a distinct period of abnormally and persistently elevated, expansive, or irritable mood," (Jamison, 1993). Symptoms include inflated self esteem, a reduced need for sleep, increased talkativeness and sociability, flight of ideas, distractibility, an increase in goal directed activities (such as work, school or sex), and an excessive involvement in pleasurable activities (PsychologyNet, 2003). The occurrence of these symptoms must not be able be confused with a mixed state (see description below), must impair the individual's ability to function normally, and cannot be explained by the effects of a substance (i.e. alcohol, hallucinogenics) or a medical condition (i.e. hyperthyroidism) in order for the episode to be considered "manic.... ..." The Icarus Project. Retrieved February 28, 2005 from the World Wide Web: http://theicarusproject.net/community/viewtopic.php?t=1187 CONCLUSION Lithium, or, more commonly, Lithium Salt, is an element used to treat bipolar disorder in humans. Bipolar disorder consists of severe highs and lows of mood, ranging from deep depression to extreme mania. The cycling of the disorder depends on the person, but it can vary from many shifts within one day (rapid cycling) to extended periods of each. Lithium is indicated primarily for patients who are not rapid cycling. Like many other medications, the exact effects of Lithium are unknown. Psychiatrists and Chemists have isolated many of the physiological and behavioral changes that occur after the administration of Lithium, and yet the exact cause of its therapeutic effect is not fully understood.