RESEARCH PROPOSAL ON BIPOLAR DISORDER

Introduction:

Bipolar disorder has held a negative connotation for many people.  The social stigma associated with this mental illness can be attributed to the fact that the general public does not understand the illness. They are uninformed about definition of bipolar disorder and make assumptions that do not necessarily correlate with the facts.  Previously known as manic depression, the illness has been linked to words such as crazy, maniac, and madness causing negative reactions and fear.  This project will give information about the symptoms, causes, and treatment of bipolar disorder.  How do the symptoms of bipolar disorder affect the lives of the person who has it and the people around them?  What are the causes of this illness?  Why do some people choose to get treatment while others do not?  Bipolar disorder is a misunderstood disease with many negative and positive aspects.

Review of Literature:

Sources reviewed include the 2013 research article “Understanding Treatment Hon-adherence in Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder: a Survey of What Service Users Do and Why” by Susanne Gibson and colleagues for BMC (BioMed Central) Psychiatry.  Its authors provide statistical information and analyze reasons why over half of the participants in the study do not follow treatment recommendations.   Another source from BMC Psychiatry in 2013 by Holly Peay, Donald Rosenstein and Barbara Biesecker, “Adaptation to bipolar disorder and perceived risk to children: a survey of parents with bipolar disorder” assesses the perceptions of the risk of parents with bipolar disorder passing on the illness to their children.  A source by Guy Goodwin and colleagues, “ECNP consensus meeting.  Bipolar Depression.  Nice, March 2007” in European Neuropsychopharmacology from 2008 discuss the criteria for bipolar disorder described in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) from the American Psychiatric Association published in 1994 as well as the types of medication used for treatment and its effectiveness.  Jihyung Hong and colleagues published a research article for Pharmacoecomonics in 2010, “The Cost of Relapse for Patients with a Manic/Mixed Episode of Bipolar Disorder in the EMBLEM Study”, analyzing the substantial costs and the economic impact of relapse of bipolar patients.  A paper written by Klára Látalová, “Insight in Bipolar Disorder” published  by Psychiatry Quarterly in 2012, discusses the association of how better insight correlates to a better outcome from treatment.  “Bipolar disorder” a report provided by the University of Maryland Medical Center, discusses the different aspects regarding the causes, diagnosis and treatment of bipolar disorder highlighting the different categories of the illness and specific treatment guidelines for the each type of the disorder including drugs, psychotherapy, and lifestyle changes.  Steve Bressert’s article, “Frequently Asked Questions About Bipolar Disorder” written for PsychCentral in 2006, answers common questions regarding bipolar disorder including heritability, other medical conditions that manifest symptoms similar to the disorder,  how to be nonjudgmental towards someone with the condition, and how medication, information, support, and lifestyle affects it.  In her article in the Winter 2012 issue of Bipolar Magazine, “Accentuate the POSITIVE”, Elizabeth Forbes identifies some positive characteristics associated with bipolar disorder such as creativity, drive, innovation, resilience, and empathy.  In Madeline Vann’s contribution to Everydayhealth.com, “Is There a Bright Side to Bipolar Disorder?”, she writes about the advantages of hypomania in bipolar disorder.  “Advantages in Bipolar: No Longer If, But Why and How.” from Psychologytoday.com, written by Tom Wootton, published on June 21, 2013 in Bipolar Advantage, highlights the presentations of four doctors at the APA annual conference who spoke about their research on people affected with bipolar disorder and why they exhibit certain advantages in their lives.

Plan to Collect Information:

The sources that I have collected so far are ten peer-reviewed scholarly articles using Academic Search Premier from the Olympic College website, over ten resources from various websites I have found during Google searches, three books I have checked out from the Kitsap Regional Library (Touched with Fire by Kay Redfield Jamison, Living with Someone Who’s Living with Bipolar Disorder: A Practical Guide for Family, Friends, and Coworkers by Chelsea Lowe and Bruce M. Cohen, and The Bipolar Disorder Survival Guide: What You and Your Family Need to Know by David J. Miklowitz), one book that I personally own (An Unquiet Mind by Kay Redfield Jamison) and a reference book I found at the Olympic College Poulsbo Library (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) by the American Psychiatric Association.  I have found information on Google Images which include the articles they originated from that has some useful information.  I have also had conversations with two psychiatrists, six psychologists and an Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioner.  Although I did not perform official interviews with the intent of using the information in writing my research paper, I did gain valuable information and personal advice about the symptoms and treatment specific to bipolar disorder for myself and other family members affected by this illness.  Over the past year, I have shared many conversations with my husband about the information we have found during our individual research to understand this disorder.  For a public speaking class I took during the summer of 2013, I polled the class asking various questions about their perceptions and understanding of bipolar disorder that I used in my final speech.  On Facebook, I asked the question, “Does anyone have experience with trying to control bipolar disorder without medication?”, and received some personal messages about the experiences of others regarding the use, or non use, of medication for themselves or that of close family members. I have also posted many “statuses” regarding my personal experience with this illness and received many responses, some helpful and some not, that has given me insight on how others perceive this disorder.  Although I will not be using my personal experiences directly, it will help me determine which information would be beneficial to use from my cited sources.

Project Timeline:

Towards the end of January, I gathered my sources and compiled them in the form of a Working Bibliography in MLA format.  This included spending time searching for the required number of sources using the parameters outlined in the class syllabus.  After completing this Research Proposal, I plan to work on my Annotated Bibliography that is due this week.  I will also need to complete a Literature Review of a minimum of 20 sources.  To accomplish this, I will finish reading my material and choose the necessary information needed to include in my paper.  By February 27^th, I will need to have completed the Final draft of my Outline, Rationale and Abstract.  On this day, I will bring three copies of my Rough Draft to be reviewed during an In-Class Lab.  Afterwards, I will have a week to make revisions according to the feedback of my peers.  On March 6, we will have a Drafting Workshop where I will have a chance to polish my research paper even more.  The final draft of my research paper is due March 13^th.

Working Bibliography:

Angst, Jules. “Bipolar Disorders in DSM-5: Strengths, Problems and Perspectives.”

International Journal of Bipolar Disorders. 1:12 (2013):1-3. Academic Search Premier. Web. 18 Jan. 2014.

“Are There Benefits to Having Bipolar Disorder?” Wholepsychiatry.com. The National

Center for Whole Psychiatry. n.d. Web. 18 Jan. 2014.

“Bipolar Disorder.” Dbsalliance.org. Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance. n.d. Web.

18 Jan. 2014.

“Bipolar Disorder.” Umm.edu. University of Maryland Medical Center. n.d. Web. 18 Jan.

2014.

“Bipolar Disorder Statistics.” Dbsalliance.org. Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance.

n.d. Web. 18 Jan. 2014.

 “Bipolar Disorder Statistics.” Statisticbrain.com. Statistic Brain. Jul. 2012. Web. 18 Jan.

2014.

Bressert, Steve. “Frequently Asked Questions About Bipolar Disorder.”

Psychcentral.com. PsychCentral, 2006. Web 18 Jan. 2014.

Carney, Reed. “Bipolar Disorder Advantages and Disadvantages.”  Articlesbase.com.

 Articlesbase, May 2010. Web. 23 Jan. 2014.

 Cosgrove, Victoria E. and Trisha Suppes. "Informing DSM-5: Biological Boundaries

Between Bipolar I Disorder, Schizoaffective Disorder, and Schizophrenia.” BMC Medicine 11:127 (2013): 1-7. Academic Search Premier. Web. 18 Jan. 2014.

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV).  Washington D.C.:

American Psychiatric Association, 1994. Print.

Duckworth, Ken. “Bipolar Disorder.” Nami.org. National Alliance of Mental Illness,

2011. Web. 18 Jan. 2014.

Duckworth, Ken. “Understanding Bipolar Disorder and Recovery.” Nami.org. National

Alliance of Mental Illness, Aug. 2008. Web. 23 Jan. 2014.

Forbes, Elizabeth. “Accentuate the POSITIVE.” Bphope.com. Bipolar Magazine, Winter

2012. Web. 23 Jan. 2014.

Gibson, Susanne, et al. “Understanding Treatment Non-adherence in Schizophrenia and

Bipolar Disorder: A Survey of What Service Users Do and Why.” BMC Psychiatry 13.1 (2013): 1-12. Academic Search Premier. Web. 18 Jan. 2014.

Goodwin, Guy M., et al. “ECNP Consensus Meeting.  Bipolar Depression.  Nice, March

2007.” European Neuropsychopharmacology 18 (2008): 535-549. Academic Search Premier. Web. 11 Jan. 2014.

Henry, Brook L., Arpi Minassian, and William Perry. “Everyday Functional Ability

Across Different Phases of Bipolar Disorder.” Psychiatry Research 210 (2013): 850-856. Academic Search Premier. Web. 14 Jan. 2014.

Hong, Jihyung, et al. “The Cost of Relapse for Patients with a Manic/Mixed Episode of

Bipolar Disorder in the EMBLEM Study.” Pharmacoecomonics 28.7 (2010): 555-566. Academic Search Premier. Web. 14 Jan. 2014.

Jamison, Kay R. Touched with Fire. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1993. Print. 

Jamison, Kay R. An Unquiet Mind. New York: Random House, Inc, 1995. Print. 

Látalová, Klára. “Insight in Bipolar Disorder.” Psychiatry Quarterly 83 (2012): 293-310.

Academic Search Premier. Web. 18 Jan. 2014. 

Liang, Min-Jie, et al. “Identify Changes of Brain Regional Homogeneity in Bipolar

Disorder and Unipolar Depression Using Resting-State fMRI.” PLOS ONE 8:12 (2013) 1-8. Academic Search Premier. Web. 18 Jan. 2014. 

Lowe, Chelsea and Bruce M. Cohen. Living with Someone Who’s Living with Bipolar

Disorder: A Practical Guide for Family, Friends, and Coworkers. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. 2010. Print. 

“Manic Depression/Bipolar Disorder.” Hopkinsmedicine.org. John Hopkins Medicine

Health Library. n.d. Web. 18 Jan. 2014. 

Miklowitz, David J. The Bipolar Disorder Survival Guide: What You and Your Family

Need toKnow. New York: The Guilford Press. 2011. Print.

Pålsson, Erik, et al. “Neurocognitive Function in Bipolar Disorder: a Comparison

Between Bipolar I and II Disorder and Matched Controls.” BMC Psychiatry 13:165 (2013) 1-9. Academic Search Premier. Web. 18 Jan. 2014. 

Peay, Holly L., et al. “Adaptation to Bipolar Disorder and Perceived Risk to Children: A

Survey of Parents With Bipolar Disorder.” BMC Psychiatry 13.1 (2013): 1-18. Academic Search Premier. Web. 18 Jan. 2014. 

Pedersen, Tracy. “Benefits of Bipolar Disorder?” Psychcentral.com.  Psych Central. May

2012. Web. Jan. 23, 2014. 

United States. Dept. of Health and Human Services.  Bipolar Disorder. NIMH

Publication 08-3679. 2008. WEB. 18 Jan. 2014. 

Vann, Madeline. “Is There a Bright Side to Bipolar Disorder?” Everydayhealth.com.

Everyday Health Media, LLC. n.d. Web. 23 Jan. 2014. 

Wootton, Tom. “Advantages in Bipolar: No Longer If, But Why and How.”

Psychologytoday.com. Bipolar Advantage. 21 Jun. 2013. Web. 23 Jan. 2014.

Images Cited: 

becauseilive. “How to Tell if You Have Bipolar Disorder.” Hubpages.com. Hubpages,

Apr. 2012. Web. 23 Jan. 2014. 

Hirschfeld, Robert . “Bipolar Depression: The Real Challenge.” Medscape.org.

Medscape, LLC., n.d. Web. 23 Jan. 2014. 

Khalife, Sami, Vivek Singh, and David J. Munzina. “Bipolar Disorder.”

Clevelandclinicmeded.com. The Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Aug. 2010. Web.  23 Jan. 2014. 

Nemade, Rashmi, and Mark Dombeck. “Contemporary Understanding of Bipolar

Disorder: Causes and Outcomes.” Mentalhelp.net. CenterSite, LLC., Aug. 2009.  Web. 23 Jan. 2014.  

Porter, Eloise. “9 Famous Faces of Bipolar Disorder.” Heathline.com. Healthline

Networks, Inc.,  Oct. 2011. Web. 23 Jan. 2014.  

In-Class Lab Work “Incorporating Sources Effectively”

1a.  In the research article “Understanding Treatment Non-adherence in Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder: A Survey of What Service Users Do and Why,” by Susanne Gibson et al., it states that “approximately half of service users with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder do not fully follow treatment recommendations…It is well documented that, when it comes to utilising [sic] treatments for psychotic illness, service user behaviour [sic] does not always coincide with clinical prescription.” (1)

1b.  It also states that, “Studies of adherence suggests further that there is a correlation between non-adherence and poor outcomes for the patient and his/her social group…In bipolar disorder, there is a similar association with relapse, hospital admission and suicide.” (1-2)

2a.  Min-Jae Liang from the Medical Imaging Center at First Affiliated Hospital of Jian University, China, and colleagues reported in their article “Identify Changes of Brain Regional Homogeneity in Bipolar Disorder and Unipolar Depression Using Resting-State fMRI,” that 1.5-3.0% of the population worldwide is affected by a common psychiatric condition known as Bipolar Disorder.  It is “…the sixth leading cause of disability...” (1). The information about disability is in agreement with the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance in their article “Bipolar Disorder Statistics” as reported by the World Health Organization.  In the same article, the National Institute of Mental Health declared that the illness “affects approximately 5.7 million Americans or about 2.6 of the U.S. population age 18 and older every year.”

 

2b.  According to Klára Látalová, Ph.D.’s paper “Insight in Bipolar Disorder” published for Psychiatric Quarterly in 2011, “…the effect of insight on adherence to treatment is important since adherence plays a key role in any treatment’s effectiveness…” (295)  Similarly expressed, in the Preface of the book co-written by Chelsea Lowe and Bruce M. Cohen, M.D., Ph.D. titled Living with Someone Who’s Living with Bipolar Disorder: A Practical Guide for Family, Friends, and Coworkers published in 2010 Cohen said, “…accurate information and good advice on bipolar disorder can lead to better relationships and more productive lives…information in this book will provide you with a solid foundation of understanding and will give you…useful guidance and assist you in understanding your options and accessing the resources you need." (xi)

The Bedford Researcher Chapter 16 Summary

Chapter 16 of the Bedford Reader titled, "Writing with Style", covers the topics of beginning to use style in your writing and polishing your style while writing your paper.  In order to have your readers form a positive impression of you and your ideas, you will want an appropriate style which varies by the writing situation.  Improvement of the quality of your document can be accomplished by paying attention to a few aspects.

Understanding the situation is the beginning of writing with good style.  You can be inspired by reading the works of others.  Citing your sources, avoiding the use of "I", and avoiding strong claims are useful. Making your document easy to read by stating your information clearly and using shorter sentences are helpful in keeping the interest of your readers.  There are three techniques for writing concisely: remove unnecessary modifiers, remove unnecessary introductory phrases and eliminate stock phrases.  Consider the advantages of using active or passive voice while phrasing your paper to effectively state your information.  Adopting a point of view that is consistent will make your writing easier to understand.  Formality, specialized language, and variety will help to carefully choose your words.

Polishing your style can be accomplished by varying your sentence structure.  The creation of effective transitions that smoothly leads the reader to understand the information, ideas, and arguments and how are related to one another is improtant.  Integrating the work of other authors by using more imaginative attributions will allow your writing to stand out as well as varying your words and phrases.  Using nonsexist language, using good examples from a good handbook, and reading a wide variety of writings will expose you to different styles used by different writers.  You can more easily find ways to engage your audience by frequent reading as you compose your own style of writing.

The Bedford Researcher Chapter 12 Summary

Chapter 12 of the Bedford Researcher titled "Developing Your Argument" covers the topics of supporting your thesis statement and assesses the integrity of your argument.  Laying the foundation for developing your own contribution and developing your argument involves selecting evidence that would support your reasoning and appeal to your audience.  To be effective you should assess the integrity for your reasoning and evidence.

In supporting your thesis statement, you need to choose the reasons that will support it.  You need to take your audience into consideration and the type of document you are writing.  You will also need to select evidence to support your reasons.  Discover the reasoning in what information you are using to support your thesis, identify relevant evidence, determine if you are too heavily relying on one source or one type of evidence and check to see if it is consistent with the type of document you are writing.  To appeal to your readers, you need to find strategies that serve as a foundation to captivate to your audience as you develop your argument.  You want it to be accepted as appropriate and valid.  Persuasion can be accomplished by appeals to authority, emotion, principles, values and beliefs, character and logic.

In distinguishing the integrity of your argument, you will need to avoid logical fallacies.  Fallacies based on distraction include a red herring (distracting or irrelevant points), ad hominem attacks (attempts to discredit by suggesting that a source cannot ne trusted), and by including irrelevant history (showing how an idea is flawed.).  Fallacies based on questionable assumptions following sweeping generalizations (ignoring the exceptions to the rules), straw-man attacks (dismissing arguments by oversimplifying or distorting), citing inappropriate authorities (using information from sources that are not experts in on a subject), and jumping on the bandwagon (implying that if a large number of people believe in an idea, it must be true).  Fallacies based on misrepresentation include stacking the deck (presenting evidence from only one side of an argument), base-rate fallacies (using statistics incorrectly), and questionable or false analogies (making inappropriate comparisons based on assumptions based on similarities).  There are also fallacies based on careless reasoning such as post hoc fallacies (arguing that one incident is the cause for something else), slippery slope arguments (warning that a single incident will definitely lead to a bad situation), either/or arguments (presenting only two choices where one has an extremely undesirable outcome when there are other choices available), non sequiturs (applying statements that do not follow logic), and circular reasoning (restating a point that has already been made as evidence for itself.)