Reflection

For this assignment, I did learn a lot about Bipolar Disorder between the ages of 13-18. I liked the outline of the project as it gave us deadlines on when specific things had to be done, so we were not procrastinating throughout the whole year and doing it the week it was due and not making sure everything was correct and good. In this assignment, I learned that Bipolar Disorder families can play a big role and how much it could affect them. They could be having trouble managing it through the insurance, marriage, and trying to deal with how their child is going to react to the new medication or how the siblings would react. It not only affects the family and siblings but also affects the child who is diagnosed with the disorder. Children who are diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder have to live day to day wondering why they have this disorder or why they are not "normal" like the other children. These children have to take multiple medications, go to therapy, and talk about everything that they may feel is overwhelming them. Children with bipolar disorder can go through periods where they are extremely happy or extremely depressed. They have multiple outbursts of their emotions and hormones. I also learned that there are multiple different types of Bipolar Disorder, a child could have mania, hypomania, mixed, or depression. I learned there are different warning signs to look for that could cause bipolar disorder, including getting more excited, high or low moods, and mood changes. Every child could have a different side effect with the medications that they are taking so they will have to change which could cause more problems in the long run. Overall, I think this assignment was very helpful and learned a lot about our specific disorders on a deeper level which could help us look for those while we are taking care of children or even older adults.