Bipolar disorder is thought to be a result of the following brain abnormalities:

• A decrease in the activity of the caudate and putamen areas of the brain-associated with unipolar and bipolar disorder.   
• An increase in the activity of the anterior (left) caudate and (left) anterior cingulate is observed in patients with mania. 
• A larger (left) globus pallidus and a smaller (left) putamen brain volume is found in patients with bipolar disorder.  

One popular way of controlling bipolar disorder is to stabalize the brain with drugs.  It is thought that bipolar disorder is the result of an overactive and erratic brain.  For example, Carbamazepine (Tegretol) is an anticonvulsant mood stabilizing drug used primarily in the treatment of epilepsy and bipolar disorder. 

Here's what happens:
During hyperpolarization in the brain, the voltage-gated Na+ channels allow the neurons to generate action potentials. After Na+ channels open, to start the action potential, they inactivate, essentially closing the channel.  What a drug like Carbamasepine does is stabilize the Na+ channels when they are in an inactivated state, meaning that fewer of these channels are available to open, making brain cells less excitable.  It is thought that over-excitable cells results in bipolar disorder, therefore the drugs to treat bipolar disorder are essentially drugs that help calm down the neurons in the brain.

In addiction treatment, when someone is diagnosed with bipolar disorder, they will often be administered an anti-convulsive type of drug such as Tegretol to help in stabilization.  Hopefully by using bipolar medication in addiction treatment it will give the client a reprieve from their psychological malady and consequently help them recover from their addiction. 

 

Labels: Bi-Polar Disorder and Addiction Treatment, Bi-Polar Disorder Treatment, Biological Aspects of Addiction