The clinical side of bipolar disorders

Abstract

This article summarizes key facts on the epidemiology, diagnosis and clinical treatment of bipolar disorder. Bipolar disorder is a common mental disorder with a high disease burden, but still does not get the attention it deserves in research and clinical training. The nature of the disorder is complex, but it is apparent that biological factors are decisive. Thus, understanding the biological systems and cycles affected will become crucial for developing more targeted interventions. Currently, standard treatments seem to have a low specificity for Bipolar Disorder, and only few experimental interventions target directly potential underlying disturbances as HPA axis or circadian clock dysregulation. Systemic analysing and modelling of bipolar disorder is a novel approach which might open up new ways in developing more selective therapies.