ABSTRACT
Because it is a serious, chronic, and disabling condition, the long-term treatment of bipolar disorder is of critical importance. Indeed, bipolar disorder has been calculated to have a greater impact as a disability than schizophrenia, diabetes mellitus, or HIV (1). Estimates of its prevalence range from 1.5% to 5% depending on the definitions used (2,3). The lifetime risk of suicide in patients with a diagnosis of bipolar disorder ranges from 8% to 20% (4,5) and in a sample of nearly 10,000 patients with recurrent affective disorder (primarily bipolar), approximately 19% of deaths were attributable to suicide (4).
