Welcome

Marc-Louis Bourgeois

Bipolar Disorder Publication date : January 25, 2007

Bipolar disorder (formerly known as manic-depression) is a mood-affecting disease. Periods of exaltation (greatly increased energy, talkativeness, excessive spending, and the breakdown of social, interpersonal and sexual taboos) alternate with moments of great despondency (sadness, withdrawal, extended time spent sleeping, loss of energy, general lack of interest).
Because this crippling disorder is often incorrectly diagnosed — its symptoms are often mistakenly identified as signs of depression, schizophrenia, hysteria, psychopathology, instability, irresponsibility, aggressive delinquency, laziness, etc. — those suffering from it receive poor, inadequate healthcare. The ability to correctly identify bipolar disorder has thus become a priority.
It is now known that this pathology is a brain disease, not a character disorder. But what produces the neuro-psychic-mood disorder?
How can bipolar disorder be treated, given that antidepressant drugs that work in cases of depression are useless here? What type of treatment is of use?
How can patients’ daily lives be made more bearable?

This accessible, authoritative book describes the latest scientific and therapeutic findings and provides practical answers for patients and their families and friends.
Bipolar disorder, which is so frequently poorly treated or not treated at all, is a disabling disease causing acute suffering.
To a greater or lesser degree, many of us are bipolar and suffer from periodic depression, mood swings, unsteady feelings and general instability. Could we learn to control our cyclical moods if we understood ourselves better?

Marc-Louis Bourgeios, a neuro-psychiatrist and professor of psychiatry at the University Victor-Segalen-Bordeaux 2, is a renowned expert on bipolar disorders. He divides his time between his private practice and the teaching hospital of Bordeaux, whose Psychiatry Department he headed for twenty-five years. He was formerly the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Bipolar Disorders and, in 1995, he wrote the first book specialising on bipolar disorders.