Bipolar disorder is characterized by bouts of mania followed by bouts of depressions. Usually shifts from one state to another are quite gradual. R ecurring cycles have cumulative deteriorating effects on both the functioning of the individual and his or her response to treatment, and thus rapid diagnosis and treatment is essential. It has been estimated that, on average, early treatment results in a 7 years gain on life. The depressive episodes are treated in a manner similar to clinical depression.
Sleep deprivation can cause depression to remit and thus can be used as alternative to drugs.
Although there is little response to sleep deprivation early in the depressive episode, there is usually a very large response late in an episode, often leading to its termination. Duration of antidepressant response to sleep deprivation often increases linearly as time into the episode increases. These results suggest that neurochemicals in the brain that underlying depression may change over the course of an episode, resulting in an increased responsivity to sleep deprivation later compared with earlier in the course of an episode. F urther evidence for the role of sleep deprivation in bipolar disorder comes form animal studies of sleep deprivation. It has been shown that the end of the period of sleep deprivation, the rat does not fall asleep as soon as it is returned to the home cage but rather stays awake for 30 minutes during which time it displays symptoms similar to mania including insomnia, hyperactivity, irritability, aggressiveness, and hypersexuality.