Bipolar disorder is a common, complex, and recurrent severe mental health condition with progressive social and cognitive function disturbances and comorbid medical problems. It is characterized by mania or hypomania with over activity, disinhibited behavior, and elation, interspersed with episodes of depression characterized by profound loss of motivation and interest. Bipolar disorder has a typical onset between 13 and 30 years of age and is usually diagnosed after years of symptoms. Among adults with BD, at least two thirds reported the onset before the age of 18. The pathophysiology of BD is complex and presents many molecular and morphological alterations suggestive of impairment in cellular plasticity and resilience and also including a number of different factors such as oxidative stress, alterations to the expression of trophic factors, and inflammatory markers. Fortunately, the preponderance of genetic, neuroimaging, histological, and biochemical studies provide a different perspective on bipolar disorder as a biologically diverse disease category. A greater understanding of the important pathophysiological differences between bipolar subtypes will increasingly help maximize treatment efficacy while minimizing unwanted side effects and adverse events. Taken as a whole, the current state of the science strongly suggests that rather than being a single condition, the diagnostic entity we call bipolar disorder is composed of diverse biological entities, with phenotypical manifestations similar enough to each other to fit under the same diagnostic umbrella.

Bipolar Disorder, Predisposition