ABSTRACT
Depression is a significant part of bipolar illness; bipolar patients spend much more time in a depressed state than in a manic state (49% compared with 12%) (1). As well, there is a high rate of suicide in bipolar patients (2). It is not unusual for a bipolar patient to be initially diagnosed with a major depressive episode, and even if a family history of affective disorder is obtained, these patients often receive a prescription for antidepressants (1,3). Clinician error also results in bipolar patients receiving antidepressants instead of mood stabilizers. In one naturalistic sample, 37% of patients were misdiagnosed as unipolar after already having had a hypomanic or manic episode (1).
