Bipolar disorder is a mood disorder that is characterized by episodes of mania or hypomania that often alternate with episodes of depression. Bipolar disorder is also referred to as manic-depressive disorder and bipolar affective disorder. This potentially disabling mood disorder has a lifetime prevalence of 4% in the US population (Ketter, 2010). According to the National Institute of Mental H...

Bipolar disorder is a chronic, severe, recurrent mood disorder. Traditional estimates of the prevalence of the disorder may underestimate the actual total disease burden. The condition can occur across a wide spectrum of ages, but the most common age of onset appears to be between the ages of 15 and 19. Bipolar disorder is often underdiagnosed or misdiagnosed, with profound negative clinical an...

BACKGROUND Prejudicial beliefs, emotions, and behaviours cause discrimination against people labeled as mentally ill. This stigmatization is sometimes internalized by the patients, leading to self-stigmatization. Specific features and impacts of stigmatization and self-stigmatization in patients with bipolar illness are the subjects of this review. METHOD Studies were identified through PUBME...

Aripiprazole is a second-generation antipsychotic with a unique pharmacologic receptor profile that has efficacy in the treatment and prevention of mania in bipolar I disorder. This article reviews the evidence supporting treatment of adults with bipolar I disorder using aripiprazole as monotherapy or adjunctively during acute mania and its utility as an intramuscular agent for agitation in man...

BACKGROUND Schizophrenia and bipolar disorder are chronic debilitating disorders that are often treated with second-generation antipsychotic agents, such as aripiprazole, quetiapine, and ziprasidone. While patients who are hospitalized for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder often receive these agents at discharge, comparatively little information exists on subsequent patterns of pharmacotherapy...

OBJECTIVE Early-onset bipolar disorder is thought to be a particularly severe variant of the illness. Continuity with the adult form of illness remains unresolved, but preliminary evidence suggests similar biological underpinnings. Recently, we observed localized hippocampal decreases in unmedicated adults with bipolar disorder that were not detectable with conventional volumetric measures. Usi...

Treatments for brain dysfunction have relied traditionally on medication-based approaches. Non-invasive transcranial electric stimulation (tES) approaches such as transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) and transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) offer an alternative approach for psychiatric treatment. In this approach, low level (1–2 mA) currents are applied over appropriate...

Treatments for brain dysfunction have relied traditionally on medication-based approaches. Non-invasive transcranial electric stimulation (tES) approaches such as transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) and transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) offer an alternative approach for psychiatric treatment. In this approach, low level (1–2 mA) currents are applied over appropriate...

Dysregulations of calcium (Ca) homeostasis may be involved in the pathophysiology of bipolar disorder. Enhanced Ca response to various agonists in peripheral blood cells is one of a few confirmed biological markers for bipolar disorder. Recently, a polymorphism of XBP1, a pivotal gene in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress response, was shown to contribute to the genetic risk factor for bipol...

A variety of studies have suggested that glutamatergic neurotransmission is altered in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Here, we tested if plasma glutamate levels are altered in 56 patients diagnosed with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder or non-specified psychosis at the first psychotic episode and at various stages during one-year follow-up. A decrease in the levels of plasma glutamate was o...