Those diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder experience an array of various symptoms and can often feel confused about what contributes to the waxing and waning of the disease. Most professionals thinks of the cycling of bipolar disorder as reflecting a complex interplay among genetic vulnerability, biological agents, psychological agents, and stress factors (Miklowitz, 2011). By genetic vulnerability, experts mean to imply that there is an inherited aspect to this disease. If you have family members diagnosed with Bipolar, you’ll likely have the propensity yourself. By biological agents, experts mean that there is actual abnormal functioning of brain circuits involving neurotransmitters, such as dopamine. And then there are psychological agents, meaning the internal psychological underpinnings of your self, how you perceive yourself and the world, and your internal beliefs. Finally, the stress agents that the literature points to involve the environmental factors occurring in one’s surroundings that may add stress. Therefore, we do not need to think of bipolar disorders as either a brain disease or only as a psychological problem. It’s more complicated than that and usually entails various contributory causes.