The effects of anxiety on bipolar disorder in older persons: the case of bipolar older persons in a geriatric situation in the Yaounde central hospital

Abstract

Bipolar disorder has its roots in psychology and psychopathology and there, Sigmund Freud wrote about manic depressive psychosis in around 1911which is now considered a historical precursor to bipolar disorder. He believed that this condition was caused by unresolved conflicts and unconscious psychological processes and could be treated through psychoanalysis. Authors like Jean Pierre Falret and Emil Kraepelin defined bipolar disorder as a mental illness characterized by alternating episodes of mania and depression with the tendency to recur in a cyclical pattern. In the domain of special education specifically in mental disabilities, we are focused on follow up and support strategies to enhance the mentally disabled to live and maximize their full potentials despite their disability situation. In this research work, the subject of bipolar is being expounded upon in relation to older persons in the domain of special education. This research is therefore based on the observation that Bipolar Disorder hasn‘t been given much attention to as other mental disorders which affect elderly persons and this in turn complicates the follow up and support strategies of special educators to enhance the wellbeing of elderly persons. Observations made at the Geriatric Service of the Yaoundé Central hospital revealed that bipolar disorder is underdiagnosed and yet highly present in the elderly population in a geriatric situation and anxiety which is comorbidity to this mental illness tends to provoke devastating outcomes in the lives of the bipolar victims. The study explored the relationship between anxiety and bipolar disorder in these elderly individuals and drawing on various theoretical frameworks which include the cognitive, neurobiological, the genetic and the disruption of circadian rhythms and extreme positive internal attributions in Bipolar Disorder. With this, a research question was brought out to guide the study which went thus: What influence does anxiety have on bipolar disorder in older people? With this question posed, the general research hypotheses used in this study was: anxiety has devastating influence on bipolar disorder in the older persons. To prove this our hypotheses, a qualitative method was used with an interview guide as a tool for data collection our sample population was composed of six participants and content analysis was used. The results obtained from testing the three specific hypothesis confirmed anxiety to have an extreme negative effect on older persons who are suffering from bipolar disorder. It is therefore vital for Medical professionals in the Yaoundé Central Hospital to give maximum attention for effective diagnosis of bipolar disorder in older persons so that special educators will be able to device effective and sustainable follow up and support strategies to enhance the wellbeing of these older persons living with bipolar disorder.