“Reconstructing the diagnostic framework of bipolarity”

Trefwoorden: chronic psychiatric disorders, classification, hybrid classification model

Diagnostic classification of chronic psychiatric disorders is a significant challenge for psychiatry. Current diagnostic manuals separately define each disorder in different categories depending on the core symptoms of the disease. However, convincing body of evidence indicates that there is a continuum between mood and psychotic disorders, prototypically bipolar disorders and schizophrenia. From this background the diagnostic classification of chronic psychiatric conditions has been revisited at different levels. First, overlapping symptoms and the continuum between mood and psychotic disorders were explored. Secondly, neurobiological mechanisms, including degeneration and inflammation - considering bipolar disorder as a systemic disease - have been investigated. Finally, the findings in each chapter are discussed and a hybrid classification model is proposed.