Mayo Clinic Health Manager
Get free personalized health guidance for you and your family.
Get Started
About our e-newsletters
- Free e-newsletters
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- We do not share your e-mail address
Housecall, our weekly general-interest e-newsletter, keeps you up to date on a wide variety of health topics with timely, reliable, practical information, recipes, blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts and more. Our biweekly topic-specific e-newsletters also include blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts, and other useful information that will help you manage your health.
Housecall Archives
Mayo Clinic Housecall
Stay up to date on the latest health information.
What you get
- Free weekly e-newsletter
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- Recipes, tools and other helpful information
- We do not share your e-mail address
Definition
By Mayo Clinic staffBipolar disorder — sometimes called manic-depressive disorder — causes mood swings that range from of the lows of depression to the highs of mania. When you become depressed, you may feel sad or hopeless and lose interest or pleasure in most activities. When your mood shifts in the other direction, you may feel euphoric and full of energy. Mood shifts may only occur only a few times a year, or as often as several times a day. In some cases, bipolar disorder causes symptoms of depression and mania at the same time.
Although bipolar disorder is a disruptive, long-term condition, you can keep your moods in check by following a treatment plan. In most cases, bipolar disorder can be controlled with medications and psychological counseling (psychotherapy).
- Bipolar disorder. In: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders DSM-IV-TR. 4th ed. Arlington, Va.: American Psychiatric Association; 2000. http://www.psychiatryonline.com. Accessed Nov. 23, 2009.
- Bipolar disorder. National Institute of Mental Health. http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/bipolar-disorder/complete-index.shtml. Accessed Nov. 23, 2009.
- Muzina DJ. Bipolar spectrum disorder: Differential diagnosis and treatment. Primary Care Clinics in Office Practice. 2007;34:521.
- Perlis RH. Bipolar Disorder. In: Stern TA, et al. Massachusetts General Hospital Comprehensive Clinical Psychiatry. 1st ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Mosby; 2008. http://www.mdconsult.com/das/book/body/172533869-3/0/1657/289.html?tocnode=57542964&fromURL=289.html#4-u1.0-B978-0-323-04743-2..50032-9_739. Accessed Nov. 23, 2009.
- Bostik JQ, et al. Child and adolescent psychiatric disorders. In: Stern TA, et al. Massachusetts General Hospital Comprehensive Clinical Psychiatry. 1st ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Mosby; 2008. http://www.mdconsult.com/das/book/body/173934054-6/0/1657/630.html?tocnode=57544090&fromURL=630.html#4-u1.0-B978-0-323-04743-2..50071-8_1865. Accessed Nov. 23, 2009.
- Practice parameter for the assessment and treatment of children and adolescents with bipolar disorder. Washington, D.C.: American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. http://www.aacap.org/galleries/PracticeParameters/JAACAP_bipolar_2007.pdf. Accessed Nov. 23, 2009.
- Merikangas KR, et al. Lifetime and 12-month prevalence of bipolar spectrum disorder in the National Comorbidity Survey Replication. Archives of General Psychiatry. 2007;64:543.
- Stovall J. Bipolar disorder: Treatment. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Nov. 18, 2009.
- Treatment of patients with bipolar disorder. Arlington, Va. American Psychological Association. http://www.psychiatryonline.com/pracGuide/pracGuideChapToc_8.aspx. Accessed Nov. 23, 2009.
- Martinez M, et al. Psychopharmacology. In: Hales RE. Textbook of Psychiatry. Arlington, Va.: American Psychiatric Publishing; 2008. http://www.psychiatryonline.com/content.aspx?aID=320111. Accessed Nov. 19, 2009.
- FDA approves Saphris to treat schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/ucm177401. Accessed Nov. 23, 2009.
- Hall-Flavin DK (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. Dec. 1, 2009.
- Andreescu C, et al. Complementary and alternative medicine in the treatment of bipolar disorder: A review of the evidence. Journal of Affective Disorders 2008;110:16.
- Dennehy EB, et al. The safety, acceptability, and effectiveness of acupuncture as an adjunctive treatment for acute symptoms of bipolar disorder. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry. 2009;70:897.
- Montgomery P, et al. Omega-3 fatty acids for bipolar disorder. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 2009:CD005169.
