Posted by Toby on August 7, 1998, at 11:49:35
In reply to cause of manic depression, posted by perry on June 18, 1998, at 5:08:33
No. A trauma in childhood can result in depression in a child or can later come back as delayed post traumatic stress disorder or contribute to almost lifelong chronic depression (mild or severe). But manic depression is different. Mania is a spell of feeling super great, maybe extremely irritable, there's an increase in activity (starting a bunch of new projects, cleaning, taking on extra work), grandiose thinking like you have special powers or you're someone famous, need only a few hours of sllep but still have tons of energy, thoughts go faster than you can talk no matter how fast you talk, too distractible, using poor judgement and doing things that may be harmful like running up thousands of dollars on the credit card in a few days or suddenly getting promiscuous. This kind of behavior and thinking is caused by a chemical problem that can be inherited or caused by some glitch in the brain's wiring. Drugs can trigger it but usually only in people who were susceptible to it in the first place, the drugs just make it come on earlier. Some medical illnesses and certain medications like high dose steroids can trigger a manic episode but usually treating the illness and removing the offending medication will fix the problem without recurrence.
poster:Toby
thread:26
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/19990501/msgs/264.html