What Is Bipolar Disorder?

Bipolar disorder is a serious recurrent and sometimes long-term psy-chiatric disease, characterized by mood dysregulation and correspond-ing impulsivity, risk-taking behavior (eg, alcohol abuse, sexual indiscretion, excessive spending), and interpersonal difficulties.1 Individuals with bipolar disorder are at increased risk for death from sui-cide, physical illness (eg, cardiovascular disease), homicide, and acci-dents.1 Recent data suggest that, of prevalent neuropsychiatric disorders, bipolar disorder ranks second only to depression in the loss of healthy life-years because of premature death or disability.2 Research on bipolar disorder has mainly focused on bipolar I disor-der. A diagnosis of bipolar I requires at least 1 episode of mania, defined by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition-Text Revision (DSM-IV-TR) as a week or longer period of abnor-mally elevated or irritable mood with associated symptoms, such as decreased need for sleep, more talkative than usual, racing thoughts