ABSTRACT

There are two recognized forms of bipolar disorder, bipolar 1 disorder, in which there are clear-cut episodes of mania or hypomania in addition to episodes of depression, and bipolar 2 disorder, where the episodes of mania are either very mild, or only occur when the patient has been on antidepressant medication. A special form of bipolar disorder is rapid cycling bipolar disorder (four or more episodes of mania or depression in the same year) for which there are now specific treatment approaches.