NIMH Pages about Bipolar Disorder

Overview of Bipolar Disorder…

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Publications about Bipolar Disorder

Bipolar Disorder in Children and Adolescents: This booklet is a guide for parents who think their child may have symptoms of bipolar disorder, or parents whose child has been diagnosed.
Bipolar Disorder in Adults: This booklet discusses bipolar disorder in adults. For information on bipolar disorder in children and adolescents, see the NIMH booklet, Bipolar Disorder in Children and Adolescents.
Bipolar Disorder in Children and Adolescents (Fact Sheet): A fact sheet that describes the development in our understanding of how bipolar disorder affects children and adolescents and the direction of future research.
Bipolar Disorder: A detailed booklet that describes bipolar disorder symptoms, causes, and treatments, with information on getting help and coping.
Bipolar Disorder in Children and Teens (Easy to Read): An easy-to-read booklet on Bipolar Disorder in children and teens that explains what it is, when it starts and how to get help. En Español

More Publications about Bipolar Disorder

Science News about Bipolar Disorder

NIH Study Shows People with Serious Mental Illnesses Can Lose Weight: Press Release • March 21, 2013

Losing weight is challenging for everyone. It can be particularly difficult for someone with a serious mental illness. An NIMH-funded clinical study proves that a modified diet and exercise program can work for people with serious mental illnesses. Participants lost 7 pounds more than controls—and continued to lose weight.
Five Major Mental Disorders Share Genetic Roots: Science Update • March 01, 2013

Five major mental disorders share some of the same genetic risk factors, the largest genome-wide study of its kind has found.
Rate of Bipolar Symptoms Among Teens Approaches That of Adults: Science Update • June 18, 2012

National survey data finds that the rate of bipolar symptoms in teens is similar to that found in adults, indicating that bipolar disorder often begins in adolescence.
Pattern Recognition Technology May Help Predict Future Mental Illness in Teens: Science Update • April 02, 2012

Computer programs that automatically spot patterns in data may help predict a person’s risk for future mental disorders.
Gene Regulator in Brain’s Executive Hub Tracked Across Lifespan – NIH study: Press Release • February 02, 2012

For the first time, scientists have tracked the activity, across the lifespan, of an environmentally responsive regulatory mechanism that turns genes on and off in the brain’s executive hub. Among key findings of the study by National Institutes of Health scientists: genes implicated in schizophrenia and autism turn out to be members of a select club of genes in which regulatory activity peaks during an environmentally-sensitive critical period in development.

More Science News about Bipolar Disorder

Posts about Bipolar Disorder

NIMH’s Top 10 Research Advances of 2011

By Thomas Insel on December 23, 2011

Dr. Insel shares NIMH’s Top 10 Research Advances for 2011.

Psychiatric Genetics: More Pieces of the Puzzle

By Thomas Insel on October 04, 2011

Results of the two largest studies of their kind, to date, have identified new common gene variants associated with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. The results implicate specific pathways and hold promise for development of new treatments.

Skin cells to neurons: Disease-in-a-dish promises shortcut to discovery

By Thomas Insel on May 13, 2011

An emerging research technology using Induced pluripotent stem cells holds promise as a window into the developing brain in mental illness.

Diagnosis: Pediatric Bipolar Disorder?

By Thomas Insel on April 08, 2010

NIMH is working to better define the boundaries of pediatric bipolar disorder, discover its causes and develop more effective treatments for such mood related syndromes affecting youth. Cross-cutting comparisons of mania-related and other forms of irritability and functional brain imaging studies will help to disentangle these syndromes so that clinicians can provide children with the best care. Our goal is nothing less than pre-emtive interventions and cures.

Meeting Summaries about Bipolar Disorder

Bipolar Disorder in Children and Adolescents: New Data to Inform Classification: February 26, 2009 – February 27, 2009
Washington, DC
NIMH convened a working group of 24 invited experts to present and discuss data to resolve methodological discrepancies in the approaches used to diagnose bipolar disorder in children and adolescents.

Director’s Updates about Bipolar Disorder

NIMH Perspective on Diagnosing and Treating Bipolar Disorder in Children

September 03, 2007

A recently published research paper (September 2007, Archives of General Psychiatry) reported a 40-fold increase in the rate of diagnosing bipolar disorder in youth over the past decade.