Students and Bipolar Disorder; Sandy was a bright vivacious 21 year old young lady who had just entered her second year of college. To Sandy the good things in life seemed to come naturally…she was pretty and had natural gold hair that sparkled in the sun. Her family doted on her and supported her in every way…her many friends loved to be with her. Sandy’s grades at school were excellent and it seemed she attained them without effort. She was the life of the party and the friend to be turned to for tutoring when the going got rough. Sandy was a very popular and appreciated friend.
Students and Bipolar Disorder
Sandy looked forward to going back to school for the Fall semester. She had missed her friends and the campus life…she had missed her classes and was ready for the school routine, but Sandy soon realized something was wrong. Instead of her normal enthusiasm for school and life in general Sandy began to withdraw and spend more time alone in her dorm room. She couldn’t explain the feeling “It was like the world darkened” and over a period of three or four weeks more signs that something was wrong began to show.
She became very tired all the time, was not eating, and was sleeping all the time. At first she forced herself to go to school then was not able to face even that.
Unable to concentrate to do anything Sandy began sleeping almost all the time. She refused to see friends and when she finally did talk to a couple of close friends they were appalled at the changes in Sandy. She had lost weight and was unbathed, her golden hair framing her wan face in strings. When Sandy mentioned thoughts of suicide her friends took matters in their own hands and took her to hospital.
Sandy was severely depressed. Family history showed that Sandy’s father had been diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder, a mood disorder including severe depression and hypomania/mania years earlier.
Sandy was eventually diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder.
Rick was 24 years old…a tall, thin dark haired young man in his first year of post-graduate work in the computer field he had chosen. Rick had always been a quiet, studious sort of guy. Though he was quite personable he kept pretty much to himself as he pursued his educational and career dream. Rick’s family was very proud of him. He was the only one in his family who had gone much beyond high school and his sights were set on a doctoral degree.
