Eduard Vieta: Bipolar Disorder: Genes, Environment, and Lithium

Bipolar disorder is a mental illness that causes often dramatic shifts in a person’s energy and activity levels, and concentration. It affects approximately 1 in every 50 people worldwide and 6 million Americans. Many people with bipolar disorder exhibit remarkable creativity and productivity. This relationship between creativity and mania was noted by the Greek philosopher Aristotle who wrote: “no great genius has ever existed without a strain of madness”. In this epidose Spanish psychiatrist Eduard Vieta at the University of Barcelona talks about the intriguing features of bipolar disorder, advances in identifying the genetic and environmental underpinnings of this disorder, and the many treatments that enable patients to live enjoyable and productive lives.

LINKS:

Professor Vieta’s webpage at the Barcelona Clinic: https://www.clinicbarcelona.org/en/professionals/eduard-vieta

Review article on bipolar disorder:

file:///Users/markmattson/Downloads/nrdp20188.pdf

Bipolar disorders and creativity:

https://www-annualreviews-org.proxy1.library.jhu.edu/doi/pdf/10.1146/annurev-clinpsy-050718-095449

Bipolar disorder risk calculator:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7465101/pdf/brainsci-10-00525.pdf