Treatment of Bipolar Disorder 2004

New treatments for bipolar disorder have become available since we published the previous survey-based expert consensus guidelines in 1996 and 2000. The evidence for these treatments varies widely; data are especially limited on comparisons between treatments and how to sequence them. We therefore undertook a new survey of expert opinion in order to bridge gaps between the research evidence and key clinical decisions. A written survey with 60 questions and 1,369 options for psychopharmacologic and psychotherapeutic interventions was sent to 50 national experts, 47 of whom (94%) completed it. The survey revealed a high degree of consensus for treatment recommendations for periods of illness and recovery. The results of this survey were used to develop a set of user-friendly guidelines that cover selecting initial treatments and next-step strategies for patients with treatment-resistant illness, the time course of pharmacologic interventions, the use of psychosocial interventions, and recommendations for managing special problems such as weight gain, medical illness, comorbidity, and poor adherence to treatment.

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Treatment of Bipolar Disorder 2004

Cover, editors, experts, and contents pages from the guidelines

This document may be downloaded and printed free of charge.

Adobe Acrobat PDF format (116k)

Patient-family guide

This document may be downloaded and printed free of charge.

Adobe Acrobat PDF format (108k)

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