什么引起双相情感障碍？

尽管和双相情感障碍相关的具体基因还没有被发现，研究表明百分之八十到九十的患者有亲戚具有某种形式的抑郁症状。

另外一种可能性是，人们可能遗传获得“得这种病的倾向”，而这种倾向可以在环境因素，比如，生活中极度痛苦的事情，的激发下发展成疾病。

双相情感障碍的存在表明一种可以改变人的情绪的生化失衡。这种生化失衡被认为是由不规律的荷尔蒙分泌，或大脑里的某种称为“神经递质”的化学物质出现问题引起的，这种“神经递质”在我们的神经细胞之间担任信息使者。

英文原文阅读

What causes bipolar disorder?

Although a specific genetic link to bipolar disorder has not been found, studies show that 80 to 90 percent of those who suffer from bipolar disorder have relatives with some form of depression.

It is also possible that people may inherit a tendency to develop the illness, which can then be triggered by environmental factors such as distressing life events.

The presence of bipolar disorder indicates a biochemical imbalance which alters a person’s moods. This imbalance is thought to be caused by irregular hormone production or to a problem with certain chemicals in the brain, called neurotransmitters, that act as messengers to our nerve cells.

原文链接：http://www.nmha.org/infoctr/factsheets/76.cfm