Science
Guest: Roger S. McIntyre, MD, FRCPC Approximately a quarter of patients with depression in a primary care setting may actually have bipolar disorder.1 A significant number of patients with bipolar disorder are receiving a misdiagnosis of unipolar depression.2 The consequences of misdiagnosis can be substantial.3 It’s critical for primary care providers to stay alert for historical and emerging symptoms of bipolar disorder in undiagnosed patients, gain expertise in providing ongoing treatment to diagnosed patients, and know how to manage comorbidities, explains Dr. Roger McIntyre Professor of Psychiatry and Pharmacology at the University of Toronto, in an article entitled, Bipolar Depression: The Clinical Characteristics and Unmet Needs of a Complex Disorder. The open access article is available online at the journal’s website: Roger S. McIntyre & Joseph R. Calabrese (2019) Bipolar depression: the clinical characteristics and unmet needs of a complex disorder, Current Medical Research and Opinion, 35:11, 1993-2005, DOI: 10.1080/03007995.2019.1636017 References 1. Hirschfeld RMA, Cass AR, Holt DCL, et al. J Am Board Fam Pract. 2005;18(4):233-239. 2. Hirschfeld RMA, Lewis L, Vornik LA. J Clin Psychiatry. 2003; 64:161–174.3. Berk M, Hallam K, Lucas N, et al. Med J Aust. 2007;187:S11–4.