Friday, May 1, 2015

The effect of BPD on the overall quality of life

Have you ever thought about how a mental disease and how it effects a person’s life. For example with bi polar disorder, many people just shrug it off as a person who can’t control their emotions. Wee see them as people who can be extremely happy at one moment in time and extremely sad at another moment in time, but we never really think about how mental diseases like bi polar disorder actually effect their quality of life. We never give thought to how these mental disorders affect other areas of health as well. This is something that Sarah Weisenbach has actually done research on. In the introductory article I read for class she has documented how individuals that have bi polar disorder increasingly struggle to maintain their quality of life as they grow older.  Her study concludes that as people with bi polar disorder grow older their physical health decreases as well. Specifically it was found that age and diseases like bpd have a compound effect on function like verbal fluency, procession speed, and emotion speed. What makes this information even more interesting was its relation to another article I read. An article I found on e science news discuss how mental disorders like bpd can also double the chance for an individual to have a heart attack or a stroke.  In fact those that do not have a heart attack or a stroke are at high risk for long-term cardiovascular disease. The article cites three main reasons for this increased likely hood of contracting a cardiovascular disease. First of all, many of the people with mental disorders have a high usage rate of tobacco and alcohol in combination with a poor diet. To add on top of that, many of the people with mental disorders live a sedimentary lifestyle, barely getting any physical exercise as well. All of this in combination can lead to obesity and diabetes. Second of all, while obesity and diabetes themselves lead to an increased chance of having a heart attack or stroke, the medication prescribed to combat these problems increases your chance of contracting a heart attack as well. These medications lead to a high risk of having a cardiovascular problem. The third reason cited in the article is access to health care.  People with mental disorders unlike others can have trouble communicating their problems and some times their symptoms prevent them from seeking help in the first place.

Both of these articles shed light on the struggle that people with mental disorders go through. On one hand Sarah Weisenbach’s research article specifically documents how as people with bi polar disorder get older their condition only worsens. The disease has an increasing effect on the overall quality of life as they get older. While the article on (e) science news focus in general how mental disorders effects cardiovascular health.

This is something that is extremely intriguing to me. My whole life I never considered how a disorder like bpd could affect other areas of life. Overall, after reading these two articles I learned how mental disorders affect other areas of health as well. For example bi polar disorder doesn’t only affect your mood but in the long run it affects your motor skills, cardiovascular health, as well as other aspects of your physical health.

Weisenbach, S., Marshall, D., Weldon, A., Ryan, K., Vederman, A., Kamali, M., . . .                     Langenecker, S. (2014). The double burden of age and disease on cognition and         quality of life in bipolar disorder. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry.

People with mental health disorders twice as likely to have heart disease or stroke. (n.d.). Retrieved May 2, 2015, from                                                                                http://esciencenews.com/articles/2014/10/31/people.with.mental.health.disorders.twice.likely.have.heart.disease.or.stroke



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