Quote:
Originally Posted by Amelie10
I would love to hear everyone's thoughts about whether or not you think BP is a progressive disease. What has your pdoc said about this?
My pdoc says it is and that really scares me. I definitely feel like my depressions are lasting longer and are more severe than they used to be. My husband says I just don't remember how bad the previous ones were because there were some really fun hypomanic periods in between. 
Looking forward to your replies.
Thanks. |
I think it probably is a progressive illness, although evidence for kindling or stress-sensitization in bipolar has been mixed. Over the next few decades, scientists will get a much clearer picture of this with longitudinal studies, particularly biological and neuroimaging ones. Right now, they don't really know how the "bipolar brain" changes over time. And a lot of brain findings have been mixed too.