Takeaways for Bipolar Disorder Management
Dr Moukaddam discusses key takeaways for the management of bipolar disorder.
Nidal Moukaddam, MD, PhD: I really enjoyed the roundtable discussion. I really enjoyed how thorough everybody was. There were a lot of questions about “Well, how did you make the diagnosis of bipolar I? Give me more details about the mania. Flesh out the case for me.” I would not want to give someone a diagnosis of bipolar I, which is a lifelong disorder, without knowing exactly what they've been through, and I thought that was nice. People talked about dilution of care and how quick encounters where patients are not given the time that they need is not a good thing, and I agree. People also talked about how important it is to educate patients and work with them and establish that nice rapport that makes you know your doctor is on your side. Your doctor is really trying to get you to be functional and happy. I also thought it was interesting that you have people who are willing to start with atypical second-generation antipsychotics and people who are willing to start with lithium, and I'd say the room was evenly split. That probably indicates that the trends in treatment of bipolar disorder are changing throughout our country.
Transcript Edited for Clarity
