Although several antimanic agents are available to treat individuals with bipolar disorder (BD), many patients have a less than satisfactory response or experience adverse effects. 1 With the exception of lithium, all of the current antimanic agents are either anticonvulsant or antipsychotic drugs. It is remarkable that no drug has been developed specifically for BD, especially because this illness was conceptualized more than a century ago. More>>

Bipolar disorder (BD) in later life is a complex and confounding neuropsychiatric syndrome with diagnostic and therapeutic challenges. More>>

Among clinicians and researchers in geriatric psychiatry, interest in late-life bipolar disorder is growing, fueled not only by the increasing size of this clinical population but also by the recent discovery that mood stabilizers such as lithium (Eskalith, Lithobid) may influence the pathogenesis of Alzheimer disease. More>>

BETHESDA, Md. -- Tamoxifen significantly decreased symptoms of acute mania beginning as early as five days in patients with bipolar disorder in a small pilot study. More>>

The comorbidity of anxiety disorders with bipolar disorder is a rule, not an exception, with a negative impact on both course and treatment outcome. So far, there are no guidelines or consensus for the treatment of this comorbidity. More>>

Mounting evidence shows that patients with bipolar disorder benefit significantly when their families are involved in treatment. Despite the challenges entailed, clinicians can successfully implement a family-focused approach if they’re willing, flexible and patient. More>>

The addition of an antidepressant to a mood stabilizer did not add any benefit for patients with bipolar depression, according to an NIMH-sponsored research project reported in April in the New England Journal of Medicine. In the multicenter study, adding an antidepressant to the regimen also did not increase affective switching to mania. More>>

BETHESDA, Md. -- There may be twice as many patients with bipolar spectrum disorders as generally suspected, according to a national survey. More>>

At the conclusion of a session on neuropsychological processing in bipolar disorder at last summer's meeting in Edinburgh of the International Society for Bipolar Disorders, a member of the audience thanked the panel for publicizing the cognitive deficits associated with bipolar disorder. As an advocate for and an individual with bipolar affective disorder, the woman claimed that while mental health professionals are focused on treating mood symptoms, only rarely do they consider the impact of... More>>

In addition to being complex and pleomorphic in its own right, bipolar disorder is often accompanied by a host of other medical and psychiatric comorbidities. Recent evidence suggests that the illness is not as benign as originally considered and in some academic and outpatient settings, patients remain symptomatic almost half of their lives despite naturalistic treatment in the community. More>>