Bipolar disorder gets its name because it is associated with mood swings from one extreme to the other. It used to be called manic depression, as it involves both the lows of depression and the highs of mania. People with this illness experience unusual shifts in emotional states that occur in distinct periods. A manic episode includes a long period in a joyful, happy and energetic state. Patients become highly talkative, restless and overconfident. They have a decreased need for sleep, jump fro

The Ministry of Health and Welfare on Wednesday said that the number of foreign patients treated in Korea in 2011 increased by 50 percent from the previous year, contributing to a 75 percent jump in revenue at the institutions. According to the ministry’s analysis of 1,383 medical institutions nationwide registered to host and treat foreign patients, 122,297 foreign nationals visited the facilities in 2011, from the previous year’s 81,789. The authorities’ goal for the year was 110,000.The insti

The Jogye Order, South Korea’s largest Buddhist sect, is plunging deeper into crisis following a string of revelations of unbecoming and illegal conduct among monks. The scandal erupted last week when Buddhist monk Seongho exposed an all-night gambling and boozing party among his fellow monks, prompting nationwide criticism.He exposed on Tuesday that Ven. Myungjin and the order’s treasury chief Ven. Jaseung went to “room salons,” establishments that often facilitate prostitution. Jogye responded

The Chinese authorities have continue to withhold information about arrested South Korean human rights activist Kim Young-hwan, despite Seoul’s diplomatic efforts.Kim, along with three other South Koreans, has been in the Chinese Ministry of State Security’s custody since March 29 on charges of “damaging national security.”  Kim is a former pro-North Korean movement leader who turned to promoting human rights in North Korea in the 1990s, and currently works as a researcher at the Network for Nor

 YANGON ― President Lee Myung-bak on Tuesday mourned the 17 South Korean victims of a bombing by North Korean agents in Yangon in 1983. After meeting with Myanmarese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, he visited the Martyr’s Mausoleum, a monument to Suu Kyi’s father and independence hero Gen. Aung San, amid tight security. The attack left a total of 21 dead, and was aimed at assassinating then-President Chun Doo-hwan. Lee laid a wreath to pay homage to the late leader Aung San and spent some mo

To cope with demographic changes, South Korea needs to work harder to empower women and young people, the chief of the United Nations Population Fund said Tuesday.“Population dynamics is deeply related to human rights and gender equality,” said Babatunde Osotimehin, executive director of the UNFPA on Tuesday. He was in Korea for two days to forge ties with the government, which is one of the executive board members. Osotimehin noted that the businesses are still unfriendly to working mothers, ho