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Bipolar Disorder in Primary Care: Diagnosis and Management

Authors

  • Lakshmi N. Yatham, MBBS, FRCPC, MRCPsych (UK), MBA (Exec) Professor and Head, Department of Psychiatry; Director, Institute of Mental Health, University of British Columbia, Vancouver

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.58931/cpct.2023.117

Abstract

Primary care physicians play an important role in supporting and providing medical care for individuals with bipolar disorder. This includes correctly identifying bipolar disorder in those presenting with depressive symptoms to primary care settings or seeking psychiatric consultation and advise as needed; initiating treatment for depressive and hypomanic episodes; assessing risk for suicide or aggressive behaviour; referring to emergency services as needed; and providing maintenance care and monitoring for those with an established diagnosis with collaborative or as needed consultative support from psychiatric colleagues. The objective of this article is to provide up-to-date information to aid primary care physicians in achieving the above objectives related to diagnosing and managing patients with bipolar disorder.

Author Biography

Lakshmi N. Yatham, MBBS, FRCPC, MRCPsych (UK), MBA (Exec), Professor and Head, Department of Psychiatry; Director, Institute of Mental Health, University of British Columbia, Vancouver

Lakshmi N. Yatham is a Professor and Head of the Department of Psychiatry and Director of the Institute of Mental Health at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. He is also the Regional Head of Psychiatry and Regional Program Medical Director for Mental Health and Addictions at Vancouver Coastal Health and Providence Healthcare. He has an executive MBA in health care from the Sauder School of Business. Dr. Yatham has held leadership positions for national and international professional organizations including the President of the International Society for Bipolar Disorders, the Secretary for the World Federation of Societies of Biological Psychiatry (WFSBP), and he  is now the President of the WFSBP and the Editor in Chief for the Canadian Journal of Psychiatry. Dr. Yatham was listed in the Clarivate Analytics 2017 to 2021 reports and Thomson Reuters’ reports on “World’s Most Influential Scientific Minds -2014 and 2015” as one of the most highly cited researchers (publications with top 1% of citations) in psychiatry/psychology in the world based on research published since 2002. He has won numerous prestigious national and international awards for his contributions including Mogen Schou Award for international education and advocacy on bipolar disorder from the International Society for Bipolar Disorders (ISBD), Heinz Lehman Award as well as the Canadian College of Neuropsychopharmacology Medal for his contributions to psychopharmacology, John M Cleghorn Award for excellence in research and leadership from the Canadian Psychiatric Association, Frank and Kupfer Award from the ISBD for distinctive and sustained contributions to the field of bipolar disorder, Robert Post Mentorship Award from the ISBD for mentoring and facilitating careers of junior researchers  and clinicians, Gerald L Klerman Award from Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance in the USA for significant contribution towards advancing causes, diagnosis and treatment of mood disorders and the Colvin Research Prize in Mood Disorders from the Brain and Behaviour Foundation in the USA for his outstanding contributions to research in mood disorders. Dr. Yatham’s areas of interest include neurobiology and treatment of bipolar disorder. He has a google scholar h-index of 89, and he has published over 400 papers in peer-reviewed international journals including many in high impact journals.

References

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Vázquez GH, Lolich M, Cabrera C, Jokic R, Kolar D, Tondo L, Baldessarini RJ. Mixed symptoms in major depressive and bipolar disorders: A systematic review. J Affect Disord. 2018 Jan 1;225:756-760.

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Mitchell PB, Goodwin GM, Johnson GF, Hirschfeld RM. Diagnostic guidelines for bipolar depression: a probabilistic approach. Bipolar Disord. 2008 Feb;10(1 Pt 2):144-52.

Persons JE, Coryell WH, Solomon DA, Keller MB, Endicott J, Fiedorowicz JG. Mixed state and suicide: Is the effect of mixed state on suicidal behavior more than the sum of its parts? Bipolar Disord. 2018 Feb;20(1):35-41.

Yatham LN, Kennedy SH, Parikh SV, Schaffer A, Bond DJ, Frey B, et al. Canadian Network for Mood and Anxiety Treatments (CANMAT) and International Society for Bipolar Disorders (ISBD) 2018 Guidelines for the management of patients with bipolar disorder. Bipolar Disorders. 2018, Mar;20(2):97-170.

Yatham LN, Kennedy SH: Treatment of Mood Disorders. In: Kaplan and Sadock’s Comprehensive Textbook of Psychiatry (eds. Kaplan H, Sadock B, Ruiz P). Lippincott Williams and Wilkins, 2017.

Yatham LN, Chakrabarty T, Bond DJ, Schaffer A, Beaulieu S, Parikh SV, et al. Canadian Network for Mood and Anxiety Treatments (CANMAT) and International Society for Bipolar Disorders (ISBD) recommendations for the management of patients with bipolar disorder with mixed presentations. Bipolar Disord. 2021 Dec;23(8):767-788.

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Published

2023-03-28

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How to Cite

1.
Yatham L. Bipolar Disorder in Primary Care: Diagnosis and Management . Can Prim Care Today [Internet]. 2023 Mar. 28 [cited 2024 May 21];1(1):18-23. Available from: https://canadianprimarycaretoday.com/article/view/1-1-3-Yatham

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Volume 1, Issue 1, March 2023

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