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Diagnosis of bipolar disorder
What is the Course of Bipolar Disorder?
A lifelong disorder
Episodes of mania and depression recur across the life span of the patients. However, most patients are free of symptoms between the episodes. There are about one third of the patients that suffer some residual symptoms between the episodes of mania and/or depression.
Bipolar I disorder
Bipolar I disorder is the more "classical" form of bipolar disorder, where patients have recurrent episodes of mania and depression.
Bipolar II disorder
When people do not really develop severe mania, but rather experience milder episodes of hypomania which alternate with depression, we speak about bipolar II disorder.
Rapid cycling bipolar disorder
We speak about rapid cycling bipolar disorder when patients have at least 4 manic or depressive episodes per year.
Long term outcome of bipolar disorder with proper treatment
When discussing the long term perspectives for patients suffering bipolar disorder, it is important to differentiate between the course of the disorder with or without treatment.
Without proper treatment, the condition tends to get worse over time. The manic and depressive episodes become more and more severe. The episodes may also tend to become more frequent.
However, when treated adequately, people with bipolar can lead a healthy and productive life. Mostly, therapy will help reduce the frequency and the severity of both the depressive and manic episodes, so the patients can enjoy a good quality of life.
Read more about the treatment of bipolar disorder
