What is Bipolar Disorder?

Bipolar disorder, also referred to as bipolar affective disorder or manic depression, describes a category of mood disorders defined by the presence of one or more episodes of abnormally elevated energy levels, cognition, and mood with or without one or more depressive episodes.

Do you have Bipolar Disorder? Join now to connect with patients like you!

What do patients take to treat Bipolar Disorder and its symptoms?

Commonly prescribed and frequently used treatments

Treatment name Efficacy Overall rating of side effects # of Evaluations
Lamotrigine
(Apo-Lamotrigine, Lamictal ODT Green Titration Kit, Lamictal XR, Lamictin)
186
Lithium Carbonate
(Lithosun, Teralithe, Maniprex, Lithionate)
110
Quetiapine
(Cobalt-Quetiapine, Qusel, Ketipinor, Ratio-Quetiapine)
92
Individual Therapy
(Meditation - Reflection, Mentalization Based Therapy, Dialectical Behavior Individual Therapy, Drug Treatment Centers)
59
Ziprasidone
(Geodon, Zeldox)
48
Divalproex sodium
(Apo-Divalproex, Valtas OD, Divalproex sodium ER, Depakote)
41
Aripiprazole
(Amirozole, Zedan, Abilify)
37
Bupropion
(Voxra, Voxra, Budeprion SR, Zetron)
30
Olanzapine
(Teva Olanzapine, Novo-Olanzapine, Zyprexa Zydis, Zyprexa)
16
Duloxetine
(Yentreve, Cymbalta)
16
Sertraline
(Eleva, Lustral, Tolrest, Daxid)
15
Valproate Sodium
(Atemperator, Valpro, Depacon, Ergenyl Retard)
15
Venlafaxine
(Odven SBK, Pracet, Zarelis, Venlor XR)
12
Carbamazepine
(Hermolepsin retard, Teril, Carbatrol ER, Epitol)
12
asenapine
(Saphris)
11

These charts show data from Bipolar Disorder patients' latest treatment evaluations

Who has Bipolar Disorder at PatientsLikeMe?

<20 20-29 30-39 40-49 50-59 60-69 70+
Current Age
Distribution of females vs. males
Gender
79% Females
21% Males
Age at first symptom
Age at first symptom # of patients Proportion
0-19 yrs 393
20-29 yrs 107
30-39 yrs 74
40-49 yrs 28
50-59 yrs 7
60-69 yrs 2
70+ yrs 1
Diagnosis status
Diagnosis status # of patients Proportion
Diagnosed 724
Not Officially Diagnosed 57

These charts show data from Bipolar Disorder patients who have completed their condition history