Posted by seldomseen on December 17, 2008, at 9:42:06
In reply to what's the purpose of hypo-/ mania?, posted by llurpsienoodle on December 17, 2008, at 7:46:12
I mean I am no psychiatrist/psychologist, but I suspect that the depressive/manic continuum is, in fact pathological.
I think even "normal" ride the "bipolar wave", albeit to a much lower magnitude than the classic bipolar.
I think the bipolar brain has lost, or dampened the natural physiological control of mood, thus allowing for these wide swings. This loss or dampening may be the result of altered brain development, potentially as a result of child abuse, fetal development, etc...
The end result is, instead of "having a good day", the progression to hypomania or full blown mania results. Conversely, instead of feeling down, mood decends into depression.
What that regulatory mechanism in the brain may be, I have no idea. It could even be structural (as opposed to biochemical) for all I know.
Animals do display the bipolar spectrum themselves, although we typically do not identify it as a mental illness, but rather as the "nature" of the animal. Or we describe them as "spooky", unpredictable or sensitive.
In my experience with animals, they definately have moods and mood swings. We've even administered amitriptyline (succesfully) in severe cases of depression/agression (which very very closely mimics the behaviour of humans). They even develop OCD.
As a scientist, I also work with a lot of really talented, creative, smart people who've done a lot to advance their prospective fields. A few of those are what I would describe as "touched". However, the vast majority of the ones that do the best work are simply persistent, willing to tolerate failure and work really really hard.
Undoubtedly there is something in our minds that allows connections between things to be made that others may miss. However, one must also have some sort of stability to carry that connection through to realization.
So as far as purpose of hypo-/mania... I don't think there is one, it just exists.
Seldom
ps llurps, I'm really glad though that you are feeling better and have found some peace.
poster:seldomseen
thread:869216
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20081214/msgs/869221.html