Manic Depression Research Studies

Manic Depression Basics

One reason why manic depression research studies are so important is because manic depression is complicated. Studies can help to devise treatment plans for this puzzling illness. Manic depression is not a simple, stand-alone issue. For instance if an individual is having episodes of clinical depression but never has periods of mania, that would be categorized as a depressive or major depressive disorder. When someone has depression along with periods of previous or current mania than the individual is diagnosed with bipolar disorder or manic depressive disorder.

Whew, complicated right. It’s an extensive issue; too long to cover here but to learn more about bipolar disorder and or manic depressive disorder you can read the DSM-IV.

Manic Depression is Worth Researching

Manic depression is both costly and time consuming when not properly treated. Research aims to help solve some of the issues that make this such a problematic illness. Some major issues related to the importance of continued manic depression research include:

• If patients do not receive useful and up-to-date treatments, it’s been noted that sufferers will spend around one-fourth of their life hospitalized and one-half of their entire life disabled.
• Effective medications and therapy plans can positively help up to 80 percent of patients to live normal lives.
• Manic depression medications have saved more than $40 billion since the 70s, and that’s just in the U.S alone.
• Manic patients do vary in behaviors like anyone; but as a rule they statistically take up far more of a health care provider’s time than other mental health patients. Mania can cause patients to become extremely needy, manipulative, and disrupt entire hospital units.

Imagine what it was like before research found medications like lithium and anticonvulsants that can help calm the behaviors of manic depression. However some medications and treatment plans don’t work for all individuals. As long as that’s true there will continue to be manic depression research studies conducted.

How to Participate in Manic Depression Research Studies

There are various places that an individual could get involved with research studies. If you or someone you know is interested in participating in research studies then look into the following resources.

Clinical Trials

ClinicalTrials.gov is the first place that anyone looking for a study should visit. This website is a huge resource and there are always studies to participate in.

Clinical trial, research study, clinical studies, and other like phrases are often interchanged but mainly stand for the same type of thing. A study is basically health or biomedical related research conducted in people. The study is always well-planned before recruitment for participants starts. Research studies are important because of the above reasons but also because they can allow patients to feel active about their health and lets them gain access to new research and depression medications. On a wider scale participation will help countless others experiencing the same illness; such as before a research study we would never have known about Prozac side effects an important issue.

Someone interested in a study would visit the homepage at ClinicalTrials.gov and type in the study scope and area. Typing in, “Bipolar disorder, Oregon” would be one example. Then a page will come up with all the related trials. Just by typing in “bipolar” you’d see that there are currently 168 trials recruiting participants.

The next step is to choose one and click on the link to learn about the specifics. For instance, “Evaluation of the Genetics of Bipolar Disorder” is recruiting. After clicking on the link you can see the stated purpose which reads, “The purpose of this study is to identify genes that may affect a person's chances of developing bipolar (BP) disorder and related conditions.” If it still sounds good you can check out the study guidelines and most importantly the inclusion/exclusion criteria. The last two steps would be to check and see if the study is happening near you (this one is in over 10 different states) and then contact the person in charge of the study.

Other Research Study Resources

• The National Institute of Mental Health also has a recruitment page for studies but often they’re linked up with ClinicalTrials.gov.
• Check with your doctor, therapist, counselor, or local hospital.
• If you live near a major university than check with the medical school, medical programs, or nursing programs – all are usually affiliated with professors conducting studies and research.

To learn more read Manic Depression or find out about the Depression Test.