In 1996, the first expert consensus guidelines were created for the medication treatment of bipolar disorder, but new research and the introduction of new treatments made a revision necessary. The sheer number of potentially useful medications makes clinical decisions more complex, and the revised guidelines help bridge the gap between the research and evidence and the key clinical decisions. The panel highlighted important clinical questions that had not yet been adequately addressed or definitely answered. The impact of bipolar disorder on families and friends can be tremendous, and they often are uncertain about the illness and how to treat it. This section explains symptoms, causes, treatments, and medications for bipolar disorder, and also gives suggestions for other references on bipolar disorder.
Bipolar disorder is a serious, potentially fatal illness.
Although effective treatments exist, there is an average lapse of eight years from onset of symptoms to treatment. Symptoms and severity vary, but the disorder is marked by mood changes in cycles over time. Over the course of the illness, the person experiences periods of elevated mood, periods of depressed mood, and times when mood is normal. Funding for the project was supported by unrestricted educational grants from Abbott Laboratories, Janssen Pharmaceutica, Eli Lilly and Company, Glaxo Wellcome, Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceutical, Pfizer, and AstraZeneca.