You are mistaking the diagnostic process with the scientific process. DSM IV diagnoses mental illness through subjective questioning and behavior analysis. There is not a scientific diagnostic test for the condition. That does not mean that there are not physcially identifiable symptoms of the condition. There are. It is unclear whether the mental illness is caused by the physical symptoms or vice versa, but they are clearly correlated.
The new University of Michigan result points to a clear difference in the density of monoamine-releasing cells in the brains of bipolar people even when they are not having symptoms.
There is a clearly provable genetic connection, with children of bipolar parents having a 25% chance of having the disorder also. Brain scan results show parts of the brain atrophy more quickly in bipolar patients, and brain activity is different. In mania and depression, intracellular sodium concentration increases during illness and returns to normal with recovery.
There is much they do not know about bipolar illness, but there is a clearly physical component, which can be scientifically tested and is valid in legal proceedings.
These findings are not used in diagnosis, because the pattern of behavior is very notable and consistent. Do you not believe that Alzheimers is real either? There isn’t a blood test for that.
What differentiates those that have the same behavior as that called bipolar, with those that don’t have bipolar.
Is in the end, bipolar just a label? A label for free will actors who choose, or are rewarded and or conditioned to act in such a way? What’s the difference?
Have you noticed that all behavior is become a disease state?
U of M. See my comments on the poor, shallow, inconclusive, and unrepeated and non blind NIMH test.
thank you. I have a son who is bi-polar and thankfully he loves the way he feels when he’s on his meds. Even when he had not found the right meds and was off of them, he was (and is) a gentle good soul. In this man’s case, his mental disease was one component of the whole mess. As a caller to Sean Hannity, a psychiatrist put it, this man didn’t do this because he was bi-polar or because of any one element.