Expert: Ivan Goldberg, M.D. - 1/10/2011

Question
What is the long-term prognosis of bipolar disease Type 1?  I have managed it for almost 33 yrs.  The length of time between episodes has lengthened through the years but the severity of episodes and length of recoveries have increased.  I read a lot about the symptoms and treatment of this illness but I notice a lack of information on long-term realities.  Thanks in advance for your response.

Answer
Hi Mike . . .

As I have been practicing psychiatry since the early 1960s I can give you my personal[perspective on the log-term prognosis of individuals with bipolar-I disorder. I find that the patients I have treated for many years improve over time as often as then do poorly. I have some BP-I patients who have gradually been able to do well on somewhat smaller amounts of medication than they required in the past and others who have required more medication as the years have gone on. Some of my patients are now essentially symptom-free while others continue to cycle with alarming frequency. I realize that what I have written is ot very satisfying to someone in your position.

If you check the medical literature, there is not much actual research on the topic of the long-term prognosis of individuals with BP_I disorder. here is a link to one study:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10082186

Best regards . . .

Ivan
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