Abstract
Bipolar disorder is a condition that has interested physicians, scientists, and philosophers for centuries. Historically, it has experienced an evolution of terms and concepts, which continues to this day. Mention of the phenomenon can be traced back to 1845, in a textbook of “mental diseases” by German psychiatrist, Wilhelm Griesinger, who described a circular pattern of alternation between mania and depression in the same patient. Years later, Emil Kraepelin published several volumes dedicated to the disorder, termed “Manic-Depressive Insanity,” to describe the condition, suggest biological origins, and distinguish it from schizophrenia in that there was believed to be complete recovery between episodes. In 1980, the diagnosis was first recognized as an entity separate from unipolar depression in the third edition of the American Psychiatric Association’s (APA) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), the diagnostic system used in the USA to classify mental health disorders (Pichot, 2006).