Title: Antiepileptic Drugs in the Treatment of Rapid-Cycling Bipolar Disorder and Bipolar Depression
Abstract: In 1974, Dunner and Fieve described a variant of bipolar disorder marked by
extensive mood fluctuations, giving rise to the concept of rapid cycling (1). Now
incorporated into our current diagnostic nomenclature, rapid cycling is defined by
the DSM-IV (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th Edition) as
the occurrence of four or more mood episodes during a 12-month period, inclusive
of mixed episodes, mania, hypomania, or major depression. Over the past 30 years,
rapid cycling as a modifier of the course of bipolar disorder has been substantiated
by differences in gender, bipolar subtype, propensity for thyroid dysfunction, and
prospectively defined outcomes (2-6). It is now recognized that patients with rapid
cycling must contend with an earlier age of mood disorder onset, a higher lifetime
number of mood episodes, and greater mood episode severity (2). In fact, compared with their non-rapid-cycling counterparts, patients with rapid-cycling
experience eight times more depressive and nine times more hypomanic/manic
episodes over a 12-month period (4).
Publication Year: 2008
Publication Date: 2008-06-13
Language: en
Type: article
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Cited By Count: 1
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