Bipolar Lifestyle

Life can be tough. Just like a roller coaster it’s full of ups and downs that can take an individual through periods of joy and happiness or heartache and sorrow. It’s the normal functioning of human behavior to enjoy periods of happiness and fulfillment. Especially when gifted with something such as a new promotion at work or when life is going satisfyingly well. It’s also normal to experience sadness in times of loss or hardships. However, what would happen if an individual experienced a constant struggle with these emotions during unexplainable times? What if that individual felt as if they were doing great and “on top of the world” whiles their vehicle was being repossessed and their home was in foreclosure? What about plunging into an unexplained suicidal hopelessness after their company signed a multibillion dollar merger that promoted that individual into the pinnacle of their career, after marrying the one they love, and buying the home of their dreams? These may be extreme examples, but when an individual experiences feelings of severe depression that alternate with manic episodes without always coinciding with the surrounding environmental stimuli, that person may be suffering from bipolar disorder.

Psychological mood disorders are estimated to affect 20.8 percent of adults at some point in their lives (Gerrig & Zimbardo, 2007). Some of these disorders can carry the burden of a lifetime existence such as bipolar disorder. Rarer than major depressive disorder, partly because it requires the presence of both severe depression and alternations of manic episodes, bipolar disorder occurs in about 3.9 percent of adults (Gerrig & Zimbardo, 2007). Bipolar disorder is generally diagnosed in two variations, Bipolar I and Bipolar II, with Bipolar II being the more frequent of the diagnoses. According to Fast and Preston (2004), those individuals diagnosed with Bipolar II are more likely to spend three times as much time suffering from major depressive episodes as individuals with Bipolar I, but will generally only experience what is called hypomania in the absence of the full blown manias that Bipolar I individuals must endure. While hypomania generally consists of extremely poor judgment, decreased need for sleep and excessive increases in self-esteem, those who suffer full blown manias can experience psychotic episodes of delusion, hallucinations, and paranoia during their manic episodes.

So what does an individual with this diagnosis do? How do they live, cope, or adjust? Is there a cure? Unfortunately there is no cure for sufferers of bipolar disorders at this point, but by taking the proper steps in establishing a holistic plan of treatment it is generally possible to live a normal life. This means that aside from the expected medications and behavior therapies that are involved in treatment, it becomes extremely important for these individuals to establish a well balanced diet, a regular exercise plan, and a plan of action during the first appearances of a possible manic or depressive episode or their triggers.

The first and probably most important step in the treatment of bipolar is getting a correct and early diagnosis. If improperly diagnosed or left untreated, individuals with this disorder gradually worsen in their condition and are often confused and distraught, getting down on themselves with questions such as, “what is wrong with me?” According to Berk et al. (2007), early treatment of bipolar with lithium prophylaxis has been suggested to have a greater response for those individuals that have experienced fewer episodes. However, the proper diagnosis of bipolar has remained inadequate and is commonly confused with major depressive disorder. This can probably be largely attributed to the disorders general development. In a research study by Berk et al. (2007), the median age of the first symptoms of depression for 207 study participants started at age 18, whereas the first manic symptoms averaged around age 21. This study further showed that the median age of seeking treatment wasn’t until age 24 and that proper diagnosis wasn’t given until approximately 30 years of age (Berk et al., 2007). Although most participants have experienced their first mania prior to seeking treatment, many are not even aware that they have even experienced an episode. Because manias generally bring about feelings of euphoria, elevated self-esteem, and pretentiousness, many patients don’t initially discuss these episodes with their therapist. The loss of inhibition, increased energy, and decreased need for sleep are almost welcoming after an episode of depression. However, these manic episodes generally lead to careless spending of family finances, dangerous behavior, and sexual promiscuity creating other issues that eventually come out during therapy. Once this happens, a trained Psychologist begins to see the more complete problem revolving around manias and depressions, not just the depressions. For this reason it is extremely important for those diagnosed with major depressive disorder to consider their behavior outside of depression and discuss it with their doctors as well.

Once properly diagnosed, it becomes necessary to discover the proper balance of medication needed to maintain the balance that falls between depression and mania. With the assistance of a licensed Psychologist, sufferers of bipolar will initially have to go through a time period of finding the proper medication and dosage needed to assist in the control of their manic and depressive episodes. Smith, Cornelius, Warnock, Bell, and Young (2007) conducted a review in which they suggest that no mood stabilizer has been found similarly efficient for the treatment of both mania and depression. Without a holistic medication targeting bipolar, medical treatment for these individuals usually consists of the use of both antidepressants and mood stabilizers that are consistent with the controlling of manic episodes. However, it might be noted, that in the review by Smith et al. (2007), they supported lamotrigine as an effective long-term prevention of depressive episodes, but found valproate semisodium to be more efficient preventing depression than in its current use for acute mania. This would probably make valproate semisodium the closest to a balanced treatment as currently available because it has at least some effect in both types of episodes.

Although it is important for all individuals to establish and maintain a well balanced diet, patients with bipolar disorder run additional risks when they neglect to take on proper methods of nourishment. As Soreca, Mauri, Castrogiovanni, Simoncini, and Cassano (2007) suggest, the long term use of psychopharmacologic treatments, such as lithium, valproate, and olanzapine that are common used mood stabilizers for bipolar, could contribute to weight gain by reducing a patient’s basal metabolic rate. By maintaining a well balanced diet individuals with bipolar can actively work to reduce their risks of obesity and the added health risks that obesity can contribute. However, this isn’t the only reason for establishing good eating habits and maintaining them. It isn’t uncommon for individuals to experience a lack of appetite while suffering from bouts with depressive episodes. Having established regular healthy eating habits can aid in increasing the possibility that a patient will maintain a regular diet even in the absence of appetite. Psychologists have been know to instruct a bipolar patient to take great measures to ensure that they don’t get too hungry, too tired, or too lonely during crucial depressive episodes which only emphasizes the need of maintaining good eating habits.

In a pilot study conducted by Ng, Dodd, and Berk (2007), preliminary support concluded that physical activity established therapeutic roles in patients diagnosed with bipolar disorders. According to Ng et al. (2007), the physical activity of walking seemed to create a direct positive change in mood-enhancing neurotransmitters and stress neurochemical pathways while indirectly, sunlight and fresh air could account for the possible deviation from stressors. This suggests that something as simple as an evening walk can stimulate positive responses from within the brain that can help elevate moods on a healthy level while the activity itself gives an individual a temporary break for daily stresses such as house chores, work, finances, or other stressors that take part in triggering depressive episodes.

Although it can seem as though bipolar episodes can come about without cause or warning, many, if not all, episodes are usually set into motion as a result of a trigger. Fast and Preston (2004, chap. 6), wrote an entire chapter on discovering the lists of triggers in an individual in order to modify or stop bipolar symptoms before they occur. Triggers often vary between one patient and the next depending upon their age, sex, and lifestyle, but it can probably be safely stated that all patients have some variety of triggers. The best plan of action for controlling these triggers is for an individual to identify the list that most applies to them. Things such as instability, varying away from sleep habits, shopping malls, or financial problems can all be triggers that begin symptoms of a bipolar episode. Identify these triggers and then establish a plan for avoiding, controlling, or minimizing their exposure.

When left untreated or a more holistic approach to treatment is ineffective or ignored, patients with bipolar disorder are left vulnerable to a numerous variety of other disorders and harmful behaviors. McIntyre, McElroy, Konarski, Soczynska, Wilkins, and Kennedy (2007) recently reported that the Canadian Community Health Survey of 36,984 respondents found 6.3 percent of bipolar respondents had a frequency with problem gambling as compared to the 2.5 percent of respondents with major depressive disorder and 2.0 percent of the general population. It was further founded by McIntyre et al. (2007) that the odds of problem gambling increased when there was a presence of drug or alcohol dependence. Unfortunately, a report by Santosa, Strong, Nowakowska, Wang, Rennicke, and Ketter (2007) shows there is a lifetime history of substance abuse in up to 60 percent of patients diagnosed with bipolar disorder. According to Mitchell, Brown, and Rush (2007), these patients that struggle with substance abuse also become four times more likely to suffer from comorbidity with disorders such as generalized anxiety, antisocial personality, and post-traumatic stress. While the risk of gambling problems, substance abuse, and comorbidity are of great concern, further reports found even more serious problem behaviors when bipolar continues with inadequate treatment. According to Simon, Hunkeler, Fireman, Lee, and Savarino (2007), there are consistent reports of an increase in suicide attempts made by bipolar patients with comorbidity or problems with substance abuse and an increased risk of completed suicides associated with comorbid anxiety disorder. For this reason it becomes even more important to insure that bipolar disorder doesn’t go untreated, misdiagnosed, or inadequately handled in order to control and decrease the existence of abnormal behaviors.

Although bipolar is a disorder and it comes with the need for a heightened awareness of self and well-being, it doesn’t have to be a life crippling illness. With proper treatment and planning, episodes can usually be controlled to be minimally invasive. In fact, a resent study by Santosa et al. (2007) shows that individuals’ with a bipolar diagnosis tend to display enhanced abilities in creativity. Santosa et al. (2007) reported that after completing the Barron-Welsh Art Scale, those with bipolar scored 45 percent higher than the healthy controls and had similar scores recorded in architects and creative writers. It is believed by Santosa et al. (2007) that affective processing and altered visual in bipolar patients could be the reason for this enhancement.

It is also important that those diagnosed with this disorder know that they are not alone in there affliction. Perhaps in relation to the reported enhancements in creativity many important and even famous individuals have been found to be diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Even the smallest amount of research could possibly identify a famous painter, musician, or actor inconvenienced with this disorder. It’s just living proof, that with a little bit of treatment and planning, a happy and successful life can be achieved.

Reference List

Berk, M., Dodd, S., Callaly, P., Berk, L., Fitzgerald, P., Castella, A.R. de, et al. (2007, November). History of illness prior to a diagnosis of bipolar disorder or schizoaffective disorder. Journal of Affective Disorders, 103, 181-186.

Fast, J.A., Preston, J.D. (2004). Loving Someone with Bipolar Disorder: Understanding & Helping Your Partner. Oakland, CA: New Herbinger.

Gerrig, R.J., Zimbardo P.G. (2007). Psychology and Life. 18^th ed. Boston, MA: Pearson Education.

McIntyre, R.S., McElroy, S.L., Konarski, J.Z., Soczynska, J.K., Wilkins, K., & Kennedy, S.H. (2007, September). Problem gambling in bipolar disorder: Results from the Canadian Community Health Survey. Journal of Affective Disorders, 102, 27-34.

Mitchell, J.D., Brown, E.S., & Rush, A.J. (2007, September). Comorbid disorders in patients with bipolar disorder and concomitant substance dependence. Journal of Affective Disorders, 102, 281-287.

Ng, F., Dodd, S., Berk, M. (2007, August). The effects of physical activity in the acure treatment of bipolar disorder: A pilot study. Journal of Affective Disorders, 101, 259-262.

Santosa, C.M., Strong, C.M., Nowakowska, C., Wang, P.W., Rennicke, C.M., & Ketter, T.A. (2007, June). Enhanced creativity in bipolar disorder patients: A controlled study. Journal of Affective Disorders, 100, 31-39.

Simon, G.E., Hunkeler, E., Fireman, B., Lee, J.Y., & Savarino, J. (2007, August). Risk of suicide attempt and suicide death in patients treated for bipolar disorder. Bipolar Disorders, 9(5), 526-530.

Soreca, I., Mauri, M., Castrogiovanni, S., Simoncini, M., & Cassano, G.B. (2007, November). Measured and expected resting energy expenditure in patients with bipolar disorder on maintenance treatment. Bipolar Disorders, 9(7), 784-788.

Smith, L.A., Cornelius, V., Warnock, A., Bell, A., & Young, A.H. (2007, June). Effectiveness of mood stabilizers and antipsychotics in the maintenance phase of bipolar disorder: A systematic review of randomized controlled trials. Bipolar Disorders, 9(4), 394-412.

Black Composers in History

When the subject of Western or classical music is brought into a conversation certain names are almost always sure to accompany it. It doesn’t take a historian or connoisseur of the arts to recognize composers the likes of Johann Sebastian Bach. Just about any individual on the street knows that Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was a classical composer. Even a young adult could identify that Ludwig Van Beethoven isn’t the big St. Bernard in the family movie “Beethoven.” What is one thing that these composers have in common besides an extremely brilliant gift for music? None of these composers are a minority, or more specifically, black. If the same people that recognized Bach, Mozart, or Beethoven were asked to name at least one black composer, would they be able to think of even one?

Black composers have actually spanned three centuries and several continents, but are less well known to the general public. Most blacks of the 18^th and 19^th centuries were enslaved to work as servants or laborers for plantations in parts of Europe, the British colonies, and later, America. However, even during these trying times of suppression, Black composers of Western music played large roles in the advancement of Black’s in today’s society, as well as, made large contributions to music as we know it today.

One of the earliest Black composers was an extraordinary individual by the name of Joseph Boulogne Chevalier de Saint-Georges. Always described as an athlete as well as a violin virtuoso and composer, Saint-Georges led a full and remarkable life. Born near Basse Terre, Guadeloupe in 1739, and moved to Paris around 1749, Saint-George became a fencing pupil of La Boëssière, a master of arms, by the age of 13 (Badley). It was through this training that he would soon be considered one of the finest swordsmen in Europe, giving exhibition matches at Angelo’s Academy and in Brighton before the Prince of Wales (Badley). As many swordsman in that day, Saint-George was naturally drawn to combat. In the summer of 1792, Saint-George formed a corps of 1000 black men known as the Légion Nationale du Midi in order to follow his desire to take part in the Revolution; however, he found little success on the battle field and was relieved of command and sentenced to eighteen months of imprisonment (Badley).

Aside from all the adventures Saint-Georges had as an athlete and master swordsman, he was an accomplished musician and composer. Although not much is known about his musical education, there have been speculations that he received lessons with his fathers’ plantation manager and studied the violin with Jean-Marie Leclair (Badley). In 1772 he made his first public soloist début with Francois Joseph Gossec’s Concert des Amateurs and in 1773 succeeded Gossec as the director and received recognition as one of the finest orchestras in France (Badley). As did many composers, Saint-Georges also attempted composing an opera piece. It was in 1777 that he débuted his first opera Ernestine at the Comédie-Italienne, but found that it didn’t suit him well (Badley). Intent on continuing his passion for music, Saint-Georges founded the Concert de le Loge Olympique around 1781 (Badley). Then in 1797, Saint-Georges directed a new musical organization called the Cercle de l’Harmonie, but only served shortly before he passed away in Paris in June of 1799 (Badley).

Saint-Georges was just one of numerous extraordinary Black composers in a list of many to follow and even the newly independent America wasted no time in starting their own history in of Black composers of Western music. Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1792, Frank Johnson was among the earliest American born composers. There is little known about his youth other than he played with the Matthew Black’s band in the late 1810’s and spent some time studying music with Richard Willis, who went on to later direct the West Point military band (“Frank Johnson”). During the 1820’s, Johnson developed relationships with several Philadelphia militia units that helped build his reputation and in 1824 he was commissioned to write the music for the triumphant return of Marquis de Lafayette to Philadelphia and score a revival of The Cataract of the Ganges at Walnut Street Theater (“Frank Johnson”). During the late 1820’s and early 1830’s Johnson contributed much of his time in Philadelphia teaching, playing, composing, and publishing his music and was even given the opportunity to perform his work for the centennial of George Washington’s birth (“Frank Johnson”). Shortly after, in 1837, along with William Appo, Aaron J. R. Connor, Edward Roland, and Francis Seymour, Johnson and his band became the first American musicians to tour Europe (“Frank Johnson”). It was from this international experience that he brought back a musical tradition that has continued it’s way into the twenty-first century, the first American promenade concert in Philadelphia, Christmas 1838 (“Frank Johnson”). It has been suggested by critics that after performances of Johnson’s “Philadelphia Fireman’s Cotillion,” that he was a distant forefather of ragtime and jazz (“Frank Johnson”). Along with being the first formal Black musician to publish sheet music, Frank Johnson has also been credited as a leader of the Philadelphia School of composers, a mentor to numerous successful Black musicians, and one of the most productive early American composers after publishing over two hundred pieces (“Frank Johnson”). After falling ill in March of the same year, Frank Johnson died, April 6, 1844 (“Frank Johnson”).

Several decades after the death of Frank Johnson another Black composer by the name of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor would make his own contributions to Western music. Born in Holborn, England on August 15, 1875, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor was a well educated musician. At the age of 15 he became a violin student at the Royal College of Music where, through the support of his first benefactor Colonel Herbert Walters, he was given the opportunity to study composition with Sir Charles Villiers Stanford (Thomas). One of his most famous works was Hiawatha’s Wedding Feast (1898) which was said to have had the popularity in England equal to the works of Handel’s Messiah and Mendelssohn’s Elijah (Thomas). Even before Coleridge-Taylor ever visited the United States his music had great impact on African-Americans. Inspired by his works, the Coleridge-Taylor Choral Society was established in Washington, DC for the purpose of performing his works and it was this society that actually sponsored Coleridge-Taylor’s first visit to the United States (Thomas). Coleridge-Taylor only continued to enhance the pride and admiration felt for him by many African-Americans by his partnership with Paul Laurence Dunbar in several works and his handling of native songs from Africa and the West Indies that preserved their idiosyncratic traits and individuality into an art form that fully infused their fundamental spirit (Thomas). So great was the impact of his work in the United States that he was received by President Theodore Roosevelt at the White House and presented with a baton of cedar, a significant gift because it was made on the estates of the Negro leader Fredrick Douglas (Thomas). Shortly after his death in 1912, two American schools for ‘colored’ children were given his name (Thomas).

Just shortly after the birth of Coleridge-Taylor, another great composer was born. Florence Smith Price, born on April 9, 1877 in Little Rock, Arkansas, was the first African-American woman composer to become nationally recognized (“Pianist and Composer”). A graduate from New England Conservatory of Music in 1906, Florence Smith had a degree in organ music and a teacher’s diploma in piano (“Pianist and Composer”). Florence Smith would become Florence Smith Price after a marriage to Thomas Price. Then, in 1927, due to the intolerable racism in Little Rock, they moved to Chicago where she began to establish herself as a nationally renowned concert pianist and composer (“Pianist and Composer”). One of Price’s most celebrated works was her Symphony in E which won the Wanamaker Music Composition in 1932 and was premiered by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in June of 1933 (“Pianist and Composer”). This marked the first African-American woman to ever have an orchestral work performed by a major American orchestra (“Pianist and Composer”). During her career, Price composed over three hundred works of various styles of music, many of which were recorded by WGN’s radio symphony orchestra (“Pianist and Composer”). In 1953, Florence Price passed away.

During the 1930’s another composer of African-American heritage by the name of William Grant Still began to make his self known around the concert circuit. Although born in Woodville, Mississippi in 1895, Still was raised by his mother and step father in Little Rock, Arkansas (“William Grant”). He attended Wilberforce University (Ohio) as a pre-med student, but could not deny his musical calling. He affiliated himself with W.C. Handy, the “Father of the Blues” and received further instruction from George Whitefield Chadwick and Edgard Victor Achille Charles Varèse making Still one of few American Composers to succeed without any advanced study or academic teaching career (Borroff). Striving to include the sacred and deeply artistic elements of his African heritage and bring African musical ideals into his music, Still composed the Afro-American Symphony in 1931, which became the first symphony of an African American composer to be performed by an American Orchestra (Borroff; “William Grant”). William Still could have been considered a pioneer for African Americans in concert music compiling a list of firsts to his repertoire. Along with Afro-American Symphony being the first African-American composed piece to be conducted by a major symphony orchestra, Still was also the first African-American composer to have an opera performed by a major opera company (Troubled Island, 1949), and an opera performed on national television (A Bayou Legend, 1981) (“William Grant”). The Afro-American Symphony remained the most popular American composed symphony until 1950, performed in the United States and Europe by thirty-eight different orchestras (Borroff). After composing a considerable body of work, William Grant Still died in 1978.

Even in current times African American composers continue to contribute to Western music. Born in Washington D.C. in 1922, George T. Walker, Jr., has been no stranger to awards for his contributions to the arts. With one of his teachers, Rosario Scalero, of the Curtis Institute of Music having also taught composers Samuel Barber and Gian-Carlo Menotti, Walker was in good company and went on to publish over seventy compositions of various styles to this date (“The Pulitzer”). Walker has received 5 National Endowment for the Arts awards, received numerous fellowship and honorary doctorates, the University of Rochester’s Distinguished Rochester Scholar award, and the D.C. Youth Orchestra’s 1997 Friends Award; however, in 1996, George T. Walker Jr. became the first living African-American to ever receive the Pulitzer Prize in music (“The Pulitzer”).

Black composers from many continents dating well back into the 1700’s have played an instrumental role in the growth and evolution of Western music, adding new style, perception, and techniques that have enhanced the sounds and passion that are found in music compositions of today. Even modern popular styles of music must be traced back to their roots in Western music and the contributions given to them by educated and insuppressible black men and women. In times where the color of their skin made them seem less in others eyes, the power of their music broke free of those chains. Music is a passion of life that reflects upon life and knows no color outside the color of its tone.

Cited works

­­­Badley, Allan. Saint-Georges, Joseph Boulogne Chevalier De Biography. Naxos. 14 Sept. 2007. http://www.naxos.com/composerinfo/1843.htm

Borroff, Edith. Biographical Sketch of William Grant Still. Duke University Libraries. 14 Sept. 2007. http://odyssey.lib.duke.edu/sgo/texts/borroff.html

Frank Johnson, a first for Black Music. 16 June 1999. The African American Registry. 14 Sept. 2007. http://www.aaregistry.com/african_american_history/2576/Frank_Johnson_a_first_for_Black_music

Pianist and Composer Florence S. Price. 9 April 2005. The African American Registry. 14 Sept. 2007. http://www.aaregistry.com/african_american_history/799/Pianist_and_composer_Florence_S_Price

Reddie, Richard. Slavery Then & Now: Calling Time on the Slave Trade. Jan. 2007. Christianity Magazine. 14 Sept. 2007. http://www.christianitymagazine.co.uk/engine.cfm?i=92&id=1083&arch=1

The Pulitzer Prize in Music: 1943-2002. 11 April 2002. American University Libraries. 14 Sept. 2007. http://www.american.edu/heintze/Pul1.htm

Thomas, William Ethaniel. Samuel Coleridge-Taylor. Cambridge Community Chorus. 14 Sept 2007. http://cambridgechorus.org/comps/SC-Taylor.html

William Grant Still Exhibition: Biography and Major Works. Duke University Libraries. 14 Sept. 2007. http://scriptorium.lib.duke.edu/sgo/exhibit/captions/caption1.html