15. Bipolar Disorders ― a Japanese Discovery of Premorbid Personality
Because of recent increase of Depressive disorder population, Japanese traditional discovery of one type of pre-disease characters of Manic-Depressive Illness must be emphasized in English now to worldwide psychiatrists.
“Persistent Obsessive Personality”(POP； 執着性性格； immodithymic character) proposed by Prof. Mitsuzo Shimoda(下田光造； a graduate of University of Tokyo) during World WarⅡ is one type of pre-disease character of Manic-Depressive Illness very famous in Japan. It has no direct relation with Obsessive-Compulsive Personality.
This type(POP) of person is scrupulous, punctual, hard worker, thoroughness, enthusiast, honesty, having strong sense of responsibility, justice and obligation, and so can’t entrust others a job.
According to Shimoda, in the person who has persistent obsessive personality, once certain emotion occurs, it continues long without cooling off (poverty of distractibility:転導性), and sometimes because of one’s obsession strength of the emotion is rather enhanced.
Onset of Bipolar Disorders derives from a period of overwork and poor situations. These cause nervous breakdown such as sleep disorders, easy fatigability. Ordinary people at this stage depart from provoking causes and take a rest.
Persistent Obsessive Personality one though, in spite of fatigue, because of thoroughness tends to immerse oneself in one’s work more and more, thus emotionally exhausted to be even attacked with Bipolar Disorders.
In another words as such personality characteristics, in spite of situations difficult to adapt, the person continue to develop activities without taking rest, becoming exhausted and falls ill.
The essence of this nature is abnormal emotional excitability bound on the constitution.
――Written mainly by Dr.平澤一, quoted mainly from “Psychiatric medical encyclopedia” (Edit.；保崎＆加藤； 弘文堂；1975 & 1993).
I heard recently from Prof. Masato Murakami of Nihon University, that “Fibromyalgia” and/or “Chronic Fatigue Syndrome(CFS)” have some etiological relations with Depression and Persistent Obsessive Personality.
(English by Akio Samejima M.D. ; Director of Samejima Heartwarming Clinic; Nov.29; 2011)