History Of Bipolar
A Look At The History Of Bipolar Disorder
The history of bipolar disorder goes back to ancient times. Descriptions of some of the symptoms of the disease are found in medical records from ancient Greece, followed by writings from the Romans, as well as from Turkey and China. As is the case in so many things in this world, the Greeks had a word for it, or if you will, several.
Bipolar disorder was for a long time known as manic-depressive, a term still preferred by some to this day. "Manic" is believed to have its roots in the Greek words "manos" and "ania”, while "depressive" was once referred to as "melancholia", from the Greek "melas" and "chole" or black bile. For many centuries, the terms mania and melancholia were used to describe the two conditions we now associate with bipolar disorder. But for the most part, the two conditions were not thought of as being two components of a single illness.
Several ancient writings did in fact suggest a possible linking between mania and melancholy, but the theory was ignored for many centuries. By the 16th century, the Chinese recognized manic-melancholia as an illness, and in Europe, "The Anatomy of Melancholia" was published, clearly defining depression as an illness.
Finally, in 1854, a paper was presented to the French Imperial Academy of Medicine, which described the condition in which a person would rapidly swing between periods of mania, and periods of depression. Fifty years later, Emil Kraepelin, a German psychiatrist, coined the term manic depressive psychosis. Kraepelin based his definition on the observation of the behavioral patterns of his patients over a number of years. His findings essentially contained the same symptoms observed in bipolar patients today.
It wasn't until after the close of World War II, that the first medicinal treatment for bipolar disorder became available. An Australian psychiatrist discovered that a compound of lithium, lithium carbonate, was successful in the treatment of manic depressive psychosis. In the late 1950's, the term "manic depressive illness" came into accepted usage.
The wheels of progress sometimes turn very slowly, and the history of bipolar illness is no exception. It wasn't until the 1970's, that the United States Congress enacted legislation recognizing manic depression as a legitimate illness. Until that time, those suffering from the disease were often simply institutionalized, with little attention paid to aiding their recovery.
Since then, further research into the disease has included studying the symptoms and treatment of bipolar disorder in children, and classification of the disease in terms of stages of severity (Type 1 and Type 2). Also, differentiations have been made with respect to the frequency of cycling patterns, and the duration between such patterns. Different categories of bipolar disorder, more often than not, suggest different courses of treatment.
Finally, in 1980, the term bipolar disorder became the diagnostic term of choice, although even today, there are those who favor the term manic depressive illness.