What Bipolar Does to the Brain

I’ve been researching what bipolar does to the brain and seriously—fuck.

There’s both a lot more research than my 25-year-old B.A. in Psychology could assimilate and not nearly enough. A layperson’s book on the subject is sorely needed.

Here’s the gist.

* There’s solid evidence that the dysfunction during depressive and manic states causes changes that persist into our baseline states.

* There are several neurotransmitters involved: dopamine, norepinephrine, serotonin, GABA (gamma-aminobutyrate), glutamate, and acetylcholine at the least. And hormones that act like neurotransmitters are in the mix, too, like endorphins and oxytocin.

* Brain structures yet discovered to be involved/affected include areas of the prefrontal and temporal lobes, the hippocampus, thalamus, and hypothalamus.

* Bipolar affects both grey and white matter, meaning both the structural elements of the brain and the connective tissue between them. And by affects, I mean corrodes over time.

There’s more—like how it impedes plasticity and neuroregeneration, and how it causes the brain’s immune system to malfunction—the point is made: it does a terrifying amount of damage.

And while psychiatry is throwing darts at a moving target (bless their souls), I’m going to take my brain health very seriously. What else is there to do?