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Bipolar disorders develop before the age of 25 years in 70% of adults and substantially reduce quality of life and psychosocial functioning across the lifespan. Most individuals with bipolar disorders are predominantly affected by depressive symptoms and episodes. Furthermore, about 1.25% of patients with major depressive disorder per year are subsequently diagnosed with a bipolar disorder.
Like schizophrenia, bipolar disorders decrease life expectancy by approximately 10–20 years. Although people with bipolar disorders are approximately 20–30 times more likely to die by suicide compared with the general population, and indeed approximately 30–50% of adults with bipolar disorders have a lifetime history of suicide attempts, suicide is not the primary reason persons with bipolar disorders lose approximately 10-20 potential years of life.
There exist multiple pharmacological treatments for bipolar disorders that have demonstrated efficacy and been approved by health regulatory agencies such as the
These treatments work best in individuals with fewer episodes and shorter illness durations. That is, patients who are diagnosed and receive effective treatment promptly are more likely to recover than are those requiring care through specialised treatment programmes who have already experienced multiple episodes and years of unstable illness.
Unfortunately, individuals with bipolar disorders are often misdiagnosed and do not receive appropriate evidence-based care in a timely fashion. As the article cites, "Most individuals with bipolar disorders are not accurately diagnosed until approximately 6–10 years after first contact with a primary health-care provider, a specialty health-care provider, or both, despite having clinical characteristics of the illness."
The article concludes, "The availability of so-called rapid-onset treatments (e.g., ketamine) and treatments that could mitigate suicidality is crucial to clinical settings. The next decade will see the testing of mechanistically novel agents for bipolar disorders."
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