First of all, bipolar disorder is historical. Its roots go back as far as the second century A.D., when a man named Aretaeus first recognized manic and depressive symptoms and believed that they were linked.

The disorder is not just mental, since it has to do with your mind, but is physiological as well, because it has to do with your body.

Bipolar disorder is often considered a neurological problem since it is associated with your brain, it can also be termed a chemical imbalance of the brain, which is a physical disorder, instead.

Scientists who research the disorder can tell you that it has biological roots, as they are even now studying genes that may cause bipolar disorder. If they discover the specific gene or genes involved in the disorder, they believe it may lead to a cure. Of course, there is great debate in the scientific community, and research still to be done before a cure can be found.

Don’t be surprised if your doctor tells you there is a medical element to your bipolar disorder, as well. When you are in a bipolar depressive episode, there is an increased risk of physical symptoms like backaches, headaches, body aches, stomach pains, etc.

If you talk to your psychiatrist about your bipolar disorder, he or she will, of course, tell you that bipolar disorder is a psychiatric illness. In the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV), you’ll find the information that your psychiatrist probably used to diagnose you in the first place.

As many studies have shown, bipolar disorder is hereditary and may be passed down through families.

Bipolar disorder is without a doubt an emotional disorder. As anyone who suffers with the disorder can say, your mood may swing uncontrollably from depression to mania and back again, and you have little to no control over those moods. This also causes emotional side effects such as stress, anxiety, and insomnia.

There is also a personal element to bipolar disorder. Because of the stigma still evident in our society against mental illness of any kind, many people with the disorder will keep their disorder to themselves and won’t tell others that they even have it. They feel like it is a personal thing.

Bipolar disorder is really much more than a chemical imbalance of the brain or just a mood disorder. It is both of these things and more.

David Oliver has the #1 website for bipolar information, symptoms, causes, medications and treatments.