This Menu contains links to pages related to BIPOLAR DISORDERS. (The relevant chapter in the DSM-5-TR® is titled Bipolar and Related Disorders.)
Other MAIN MENUS can be found by clicking on *MENUS* at the top of any page on this website.
In the Menu below, click on the category (or the arrow to the left of its name) to EXPAND the category and see what is included in it.
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Bipolar disorders—Screening, Diagnosis, and Evaluation
Diagnosing bipolar disorder
How to EFFECTIVELY screen patients for possible bipolar disorder
Tips on differentiating unipolar from bipolar depression
Identifying bipolar disorder: Part one
Identifying bipolar disorder, Part two: The Bipolarity Index
Identifying bipolar disorder, Part three: MoodCheck
Are we missing cyclothymic disorder by putting it into bipolar disorder NOS?
What are the differences between hypomania and mania, and why do we care?
Was it really hypomania?
What is antidepressant-induced mania or hypomania?
Bipolar disorder or substance use? Tips on resolving the diagnostic confusion
Bipolar disorder or substance use? Tips on resolving the diagnostic confusion
Why we must identify and characterize psychotic features in manic episodes
The Mood Disorders Questionnaire is being used inappropriately
Don’t use screening questionnaires for bipolar disorder
“Specifiers” for mood disorders
How to diagnose atypical features in depressive and bipolar disorders
Bipolar disorder with rapid cycling
What is bipolar disorder with rapid cycling?
How common is bipolar disorder with rapid cycling?
What are the risk factors for bipolar disorder with rapid cycling?
Bipolar disorder with rapid cycling: Management
Bipolar disorders with mixed features
Understanding “mixed features” in episodes of mood disorders
Tips on correctly diagnosing mixed features
A practical guide to the management of bipolar disorders with mixed features
A patient with bipolar disorder with mixed features who can’t tolerate medications due to over-sedation
Bipolar disorders—Management
The articles below are about how to manage bipolar disorders. For detailed information about the medications used to treat bipolar disorder, please see our menu on “Mood Stabilizers”:
Mood Stabilizers (Main Menu)
Management of manic episodes
Divalproex (valproate) loading dose
Combination therapy (mood stabilizer plus antipsychotic) for acute mania?
How should antidepressant-induced mania or hypomania be managed?
Mania/hypomania after starting an antidepressant: Always treat with a mood stabilizer?
Management of bipolar depression
When NOT to use antidepressants in bipolar depression
Which antidepressants have a greater or lesser risk in bipolar depression?
Should we try to avoid serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs) in bipolar disorder?
Does bupropion really have a lower risk of switching in bipolar disorder?
Difficult-to-treat bipolar depression
Bipolar depression: Factors affecting treatment selection and outcomes
Pearls in treating bipolar depression: Interview with Joseph Goldberg, MD
When patients with bipolar disorders worry about losing their creativity
Tips on evaluating patients for remaining or residual symptoms
Management of bipolar disorder with rapid cycling
Maintenance (preventive) treatment
How to do relapse prevention in bipolar disorder
These relapse prevention strategies can improve outcomes in bipolar disorders
A key strategy for preventing relapse and aborting manic episodes
How to know who will respond better to lithium
A practical guide to the management of bipolar disorders with mixed features
Can lamotrigine monotherapy be used for maintenance treatment in bipolar I disorder?
A strategy for patients who decline every medication option
What to tell patients after a single (“first”) episode of mania
Key principles for managing bipolar II disorder
Other interventions
Bipolar disorders—Resources
Practice guidelines for bipolar disorders
BEST Books on Bipolar Disorder: For Patients and/or Families
An Unquiet Mind
Bipolar disorders—Comorbidities
Comorbidity in bipolar disorders: Introduction
Bipolar disorder with comorbid ADHD
How commonly do bipolar disorder and ADHD occur together?
Does this person have ADHD, bipolar disorder, or both?
How to treat ADHD in persons with bipolar disorder
Bipolar disorder with comorbid anxiety disorders
Bipolar disorders with comorbid anxiety disorders
How to treat comorbid anxiety disorders in bipolar disorders with medications
The Manic-Panic Connection: Comorbid Bipolar Disorder and Panic Disorder
Bipolar disorder with comorbid panic disorder: Treatment
Bipolar disorder with comorbid substance use disorders
How common is the comorbidity of bipolar disorders and substance use disorders?
Tips on treating patients with BOTH a bipolar disorder AND a substance use disorder
Tips on treating alcohol use disorder in persons with a bipolar disorder
Bipolar disorder with comorbid OCD
Bipolar disorders—Miscellaneous topics
How to elicit what our patients really think about their diagnosis
How to get better outcomes in bipolar disorder (Video interview with Gary Sachs, MD)
YOU ask the Expert: Bipolar disorders (Joseph Goldberg, MD)
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