• Article

A brief timeline

400 B.C. - Mania and melancholia described as separate illnesses by Hippocratic physicians.

150 AD - First written account of bipolar disorder in adolescence is described by Aretauus of Cappadocia: "...in those periods of life with which much heat and blood are associated, persons are most given to mania, namely, those about puberty, young men, and such as possess general vigor."

1817 - Lithium, element No. 3 on the periodic table, is discovered in a Swedish iron mine.

• Artículo

Una breve línea en el tiempo

400. a.C.- Los médicos hipocráticos describen la manía y la melancolía como enfermedades separadas.

150 d. C.- Aretaus de Cappadocia describe el primer relato escrito de enfermedad bipolar en la adolescencia: "... en aquellos periodos de la vida en los que se asocian mucho calor y sangre, las personas tienden a sufrir manía, es decir, aquellos jóvenes o en la edad de la pubertad y los que sean vigorosos en general".

This document offers a timeline of our understanding of bipolar disorder.

Gianni L. Faedda, MD, Ross J. Baldessarini, MD,
Trisha Suppes, MD, PhD, Leonardo Tondo, MD, Ina Becker, MD,
and Deborah S. Lipschitz, MD
(Harvard Rev Psychiatry 1995;3:171-95.)

Contents

Historical background
Contemporary diagnostic challenges
Presentation versus age of onset
Age of onset
Gender differences
Family history
Premorbid characteristics and precipitants
Type of onset
Mixed states
Psychotic features
Episode length
Manic switching
Treatment
Alternative mood stabilizing treatments
Outcome
Comment and conclusions