Bipolar disorders

Abstract

Bipolar disorder (BD) is a prevalent, chronic, and recurring mental disorder. Individuals with BD spend about half of their lifetime with affective symptoms, and depressive symptoms predominate over its long-term course. Residual symptoms and mixed states are also common. Evidence indicates that a significant proportion of individuals with BD seek treatment in primary care (PC) settings. Nevertheless, BD frequently goes under-recognized in PC settings and is not always properly treated. Patients with BD can be misdiagnosed as having unipolar depression or schizophrenia, and people with other disorders such as borderline personality disorder can have symptoms that overlap with BD. Consequentl..