A Research on Individuals with Bipolar Disorder: A Case Study

Bipolar disorder is a psychiatric disorder in which a manic and depressive mood periods are observed. It leads to significant changes in feelings of a person varying from intense unhappiness, to extreme energetic intemperance besides to different emotional situations such as despair, hopelessness, suicide, worthlessness, pessimism at the same time. In this research, it was aimed to focus on the daily life of an individual with bipolar disorder, his educational life, family life and friendship relations from the view of their social environment. This research was conducted as a case study with a 27-year-old university student with a diagnosis of bipolar disorder. The research was conducted through a three-month study in the fall semester of 2017-2018. The research is a descriptive research which is a case study using qualitative data collection and analysis techniques based on qualitative research design. Based on the semi-structured interview questions, the data obtained from the participant were transcribed and subjected to descriptive analysis through codes that reflect the research questions. It was revealed that when there happened a change in the psychological state of the participant in the study, he encountered extreme difficulties in his education and so extended his school, has had serious communication conflicts with his family members, and his interactions with his friends gradually decrease. Therefore, the changing mood of the participant was found to make his daily and educational life sufficiently difficult and had a negative effect on his interaction with family members and friends. This research is quite unique in terms of looking at the situation from a sociological perspective, collecting the data from the first hand, and achieving striking findings/results