History of Bipolar Mental Disorder

Bipolar mental disorder is a disorder of the mind – hence the inclusion of "mental" in its name – not in the mind. It is difficult to diagnose, tricky to treat, with causes impossible to explain. Often, the person who suffers from bipolar mental disorder blames his mood swings on the people or situations around him. Sometimes, his complaints center on the depressive episodes and he feels that his mania is not a medical problem.

It's surprising that a disorder that is so mysterious to modern medical science was defined and studied by ancient scientists.

Early Mentions of Bipolar Mental Disorder

The concepts of depression, called "melancholia" and mania were discussed by the ancient Greeks. The medical science of that time believed that moods were determined by the amount and type of fluids manufactured by various internal organs. The ancient doctors theorized that sadness and happiness were caused by bile from the digestive system. These fluids were called "humors" and according to the humoral theory of medicine, having only the good humors resulted in health, good moods and strength.

Both melancholia and mania were seen as separate disorders as early as the second century. There is no record of any disease marked by mood swings between the two as in bipolar mental disorder from that time. However, in the first century, Aretaeus of Cappadocia attributed the origin of both melancholia and mania to black bile.

Modern Times

Modern attention to bipolar mental disorder can be traced back to a paper delivered to the French Imperial Academy of Medicine on January 31, 1854 by Jules Baillarger. The paper described a biphasic mental illness that caused swings between depression and mania. Baillarger called it "folie double forme" or dual-form insanity.

Thought to be the father of the modern studies of bipolar mental disorder, Emil Kraepelin described untreated sufferers in 1902. He was the first to call the disorder "manic depressive psychosis" and observed that manic and depressive mood swings were also accompanied by periods of normalcy.

It wasn't until 1948 that a treatment was discovered by Dr. John Cade in Australia while treating veterans of World War II. A psychiatrist, Dr. Cade found that Lithium Carbonate was successful in treating bipolar mental disorder. It marked the beginning of the use of medicines for psychiatric conditions, leading to treatments for schizophrenia and anxiety about 4 years later.

Recent Discoveries

The switch from "manic-depression disorder" to "bipolar mental disorder" is quite recent, although some experts prefer the former, more descriptive name. More recent is the discovery of different types of bipolar mental disorder including the childhood disorder. Although still very mysterious, bipolar mental disorder may soon be conquered by modern medical science.