What is Bipolar Disorder?
Bipolar disorder is also known as manic-depressive illness. It is a brain disorder that causes alterations in a person's mood, energy, and ability to function.
Information for Caregivers
When someone is in the middle of a manic episode for the first time they usually do not realise that there is anything wrong. It is often friends, family or colleagues who first notice that there is a problem.
Treatment for Bipolar Disorder
Most people with bipolar disorder, even those with the most severe forms are able to achieve substantial stabilization of their mood swings and related symptoms with proper treatment. Because bipolar disorder is a recurrent illness, long-term preventive treatment is strongly recommended and almost always indicated.
References
Baldessarini, R. J., & Tondo, L. (2000). Does lithium treatment still work? Evidence of stable responses over three decades. Archives of General Psychiatry, 57 , 187-190.
Barato, N., & Hafner, R. J. (1998). Comorbidity of bipolar disorder and personality disorder. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 32 , 276-280.
Bloch, S., & Singh, B. S. (Eds.). (1994). Foundations of clinical psychiatry . Melbourne: Melbourne University Press.
Cohen, R. M. (2000). The presentations of clinical psychiatry (1 ed.). Bath: The Bath Press.
Gabbard, G. O., & Atkinson, S. D. (1996). Synopsis of treatments of psychiatric disorders (2 ed.). Washington: American Psychiatric Press Inc.
Gelenberg, A. J., & Hopkins, H. S. (1996). Antipsychotics in bipolar disorder. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 57 (supplement 9), 49-52.
Gitlin, M. J. (2001). Treatment resistant bipolar disorder. Bulletin of the Menninger Clinic, 65 (1).
Goodwin, F., & Jamison, K. (1990). Manic depressive illness . Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Greden, J. F. (Ed.). (2001). The treatment of recurrent depression: review of psychiatry (Vol. 20): American Psychiatric Publishing Inc.
Johnson, J. G., Cohen, P., & Brook, J. S. (2000). Associations between bipolar disorder and other psychiatric disorders during adolescence and early adulthood: a community-based longitudinal investigation. American Journal of Psychiatry, 157 , 1679-1681.
Lewis, L. (2000). A consumer perspective concerning the diagnosis and treatment of bipolar disorder. Biological Psychiatry, 48 , 442-444.
Patelis-Siotis, I. (2001). Cognitive behavioural therapy: applications for the management of bipolar disorder. Bipolar Disorders, 3 , 1-10.
Sachs, G., & Ghaemi, S. N. (2000). Efficacy and tolerability of risperidone versus placebo in combination with lithium or valproate in acute mania. European Neuropscyhopharmacology, 10 (supplement 3), S240.
Sachs, G. S., Koslow, C. L., & Ghaemi, S. N. (2000). The treatment of bipolar depression: review article. Bipolar Disorders, 2 , 256-260.
Schou, M. (1996). The effect of prophylactic lithium maintenance treatment on mortality and suicidal behaviour: a review for clinicians. Journal of Affective Disorders, 50 , 253-259.
Swartz, H. A., & Frank, E. (2001). Psychotherapy for bipolar depression a phase specific treatment strategy. Bipolar Disorders, 3 , 11-22.
Tohen, M., Jacobs, T. G., & Grundy, S. L. (2000). Efficacy of olanzapine in acute bipolar mania: a double-blind, placebo-controlled study. Archives of General Psychiatry, 57 , 841-849.
Tondo, L., & Baldessarini, R. (2000). Reduced suicide risk during lithium maintenance treatment. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 61 , 91-104.
Tondo, L., Baldessarini, R. J., Hennen, J., & Floris, G. (1998). Lithium maintenance treatment of depression and mania in bipolar I and II disorders. American Journal of Psychiatry, 155 , 638-645.
West, S. A., McElroy, S. L., Strakowski, S. M., Keck, P. E., & McConville, B. J. (1995). Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in adolescent mania. American Journal of Psychiatry, 152 , 271-273.