Group psycho-education for bipolar disorder.

Psycho-education is an established intervention for various physical and mental health conditions. This article describes a psycho-education programme developed for people with bipolar disorder. The courses appear to have been beneficial to participants and appraisal of the intervention is ongoing.

Effects of chronic lithium treatment on renal function.

Introduction: Lithium treatment is associated with renal side effects which vary from mild nephrogenic diabetes insipidus to end stage renal disease (ESRD). A review of the literature suggests that ESRD is a very rare side effect, caused after very long-term lithium treatment, and that it might be preventable if lithium is stopped early.

Methods: Sixty-one patients were treated with lithium for a mean of 15.

Age-at-onset in bipolar-I disorder: mixture analysis of 1369 cases identifies three distinct clinical sub-groups.

Background: To assess whether bipolar disorder type I segregates into three clinically distinct sub-groups defined by age-at-onset.

Methods: Clinical data were available on 1369 individuals with DSM-IV bipolar I disorder. Mixture analysis was performed on the age-at-onset (AAO) data to determine whether they were composed of more than one normal distribution.

The effectiveness of electroconvulsive therapy in treatment-resistant depression: a naturalistic study.

Objectives: Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is a very effective treatment of major depressive disorder. However, its use has been declining over the years in the United Kingdom, where it is now reserved for cases where all other treatment options have failed. We wanted to assess whether ECT is still highly effective in such a severely treatment-resistant population.