Bipolar Spectrum Disorder -- Underrecognized and Too Often Improperly Treated

A new study, published in the May 2007 issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, supports earlier estimates of the prevalence of bipolar disorder in the U.S. population, and suggests the illness may be more accurately characterized as a spectrum disorder.

Intensive Psychotherapy More Effective Than Brief Therapy for Treating Bipolar Depression

Bipolar disorder is a debilitating illness marked by severe mood swings between depression and mania that affects 2.6 percent of Americans in any given year. Results from a study published in the April 2007 issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry show that patients taking medications to treat bipolar disorder are more likely to get well faster and stay well if they receive intensive psychotherapy.

Sometimes Bipolar Disorder First Surfaces in Childhood or Adolescence

Bipolar disorder can be difficult to recognize in children and adolescents because it doesn't precisely fit the symptom criteria established for adults; because its symptoms can resemble or co-occur with those of other common childhood-onset mental disorders; and because the symptoms of bipolar disorder may be initially mistaken for developmentally normal emotions and behaviors of the young.

Bipolar Disorder (Manic-Depression)—Do These Symptoms Sound Familiar?

Are you feeling really "down" sometimes and really "up" other times? Are these mood changes causing problems at work, school, or home? If yes, you may have bipolar disorder, also called manic-depression. More than 2 million Americans have bipolar disorder. It can happen to anyone, no matter what age you are or where you come from.

Sailing in the Wind's Eye: Charting My Mother's Bipolar Journey

By Christine McKenna Leigh, Ph.D. (ABD)

Manic depression swept a broad path across my childhood. The halcyon grace of my mother's early mania inevitably deteriorated into days, or weeks, of fierce and relentless incoherence; of smashed dishes; of neglected animals, plants and children. My mother is an absent presence to me now--like the space between the notes on a musical score, or the stillness in the breath between cycles of inspiration and expiration...

Understanding Bipolar Disorder

Bipolar disorder (sometimes referred to as manic depression) is characterized by extreme fluctuations in mood bordered by mania, sleeplessness and inexhaustible energy on one end, and depression, hoplessness and self-doubt on the other. Left untreated, bipolar disorder can cause great pain and suffering for the individual, as well as for those who care about them. The encouraging news is that therapy can provide life strengthening (and sometimes life-saving) help.

Largest Study to Date on Pediatric Bipolar Disorder

A newly-released study is helping to shape the understanding of three major subtypes of bipolar disorder that affect children and adolescents and how this diagnosis may affect them as adults.

Same Genes Suspected in Both Depression and Bipolar Illness

Researchers, for the first time, have pinpointed a genetic hotspot that confers risk for both bipolar disorder and depression. This adds to mounting evidence that major mental disorders overlap at the molecular level.

Significant Weight Gain, Metabolic Changes Associated with Antipsychotic Use in Children

Children and adolescents with mental disorders such as bipolar disorder or schizophrenia spectrum disorder are often treated with antipsychotic medications, especially the newer, second-generation antipsychotics. However, research has shown that these medications have worrisome cardiovascular and metabolic effects on young people, and their long-term effects on growing bodies are unknown.

Mood Disorders Predict Later Substance Abuse Problems

Findings from an extensive, long-term study "confirm the link between mood disorders and substance abuse or dependence problems...they also suggest that earlier detection of bipolar symptoms could help to prevent consequent substance abuse problems.”

Study Highlights Ways In Which Bipolar Kids Misread Faces

New study on provides some of the first clues to the underlying workings of the episodes of children's mania and depression that disrupt their friendships, school, and family life.

Symptoms Persist as Bipolar Children Grow Up

Bipolar disorder (BD) identified in childhood often persisted into adulthood in the first large follow-up study of its kind. Forty-four percent of children diagnosed with BD continued to have manic episodes as adults.

Weight Gain From Antipsychotics Traced to Appetite-Regulating Enzyme, Receptor

In addition to the implications for design of newer antipsychotics, researchers believe findings from a newly-published study may also lead to new strategies in weight and appetite control research.

Different Kinds of Bipolar Disorder In Response to Certain Familial Characteristics?

Breaking up the broad diagnosis of BPD into subtypes by including familial characteristics can help researchers untangle the mix of genetic and environmental factors that contribute to this complex disorder.

Lithium Blocks Enzyme To Help Fix Body Rhythms Along With Mood In Bipolar Disorder

Researchers have discovered how lithium likely fixes body clocks gone awry, stabilizing sleep-wake cycles and other daily rhythms disturbed along with mood in bipolar disorder. By blocking an enzyme, lithium, a natural salt, stabilizes a receptor that serves as a pivotal link in the clocks' intricate workings.

New Research Improves Understanding of Kids' Bipolar Disorder

Bipolar disorder can be hard to identify in children and adolescents for several reasons, including a lack of age-appropriate diagnostic guidelines and symptoms different than those commonly seen in adults with the disorder.