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bipolar
In simple terms, What happens within the brain/with dopamine when switching over from a manic state to a depressed state?
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Hi. Not sure there's an 'ever so easy' way to descrcibe the action of neurotransmitters. Think of dopamine as an agent that drives sensations/emotions, you feel the effect of it in any 'reward-motivated' acts or behaviour (which is quite self-explanatory if you think about it). Now consider drugs like cocaine...which people say heightens and intensifies everything. The 'party drug' that makes the lights brighter, everything more intense and highly charged/exciting. Cocaine can be shown to amplify dopamine levels greatly, as can amphetamines (aka. 'speed'). You can probably get a picture of what's going on now? Now picture a sort of graph with a horizontal axis, which represents time. The vertical axis can go positive (up) and negative (down). The centre-point (zero, in effect) we'll imagine as a normal, regular 'mood'. Positive moves represent a 'happier' (if you like) mood, more up-beat. Negative, naturally, more down-beat, deppressive moods. Note they are relative, not absolute...your 'zero' is not necessarily my 'zero'. Maximum positive value we'll call 'Manic Euphoric' and maximum negative, we'll call 'Manic Depressed'. Think of our mood as a 'curve' which over time can (and indeed does) go up and down around our centre 'zero' (normal). Most of the time the ups and downs don't 'crash against' the high manic euphoric/manic depressed limits...they have less amplitude than that, more gentle curves and swings. This is a pretty standard model, and dopamine levels, if plotted, would follow our mood swings over the same time period. I hope you're seeing something in this description, although it's hard to describe in simply words. Better looked at together, with proper feedback/discussion/illustrations. Hope you're seeing what I'm getting at though. 'Cranfield Curves' is the subject you might look into if you're sort of seeing it, but maybe not too clearly. The neurological/medical action of neurotransmitters is well beyond my scope...you'll need a medical graduate (brain surgeon??) for that...and possibly be one yourself to understand it in depth! Think of dopamine in general as an agent which makes us 'feel' things. Makes us human. When the level changes, so does our 'mood'. Best wishes!
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