Manic depression, concepts

The term "bipolar disorder" originally referred to manic-depressive illnesses characterized by both manic and depressive episodes. In recent years, the concept of bipolar disorder has been broadened to include subtypes with similar clinical courses, phenomenology, family histories and treatment responses. These subtypes are thought to form a continuum of disorders that, while differing in severity, are related. Readers are referred to the Diagnostic and Statisticial Manual of Mental Disorders of the American Psychiatric Association (DSM-IV) for details of this classification. 

Manic depression, now known as bipolar disorder, used to be regarded as a relatively rare condition, perhaps affecting up to 1% of people at some point during their lifetime. However over recent years the concept... 

What had once been a relatively rare disorder, for which there was considered to be only one very specific treatment is now regarded as a widespread problem with an array of new drug treatments. In addition, the concept of the mood stabiliser allows drugs for manic depression to be used in many other situations in which there appears to be some instability of mood. Since almost by definition acute psychiatric disorders involve extreme emotional responses, almost any psychiatric patient can qualify for treatment with a mood stabiliser. My clinical experience suggests the use of these drugs among psychiatric patients has expanded considerably. 

---