The History Of Bipolar Disorder

The disease referred to as Bipolar Disorder has its discovery dated back in ancient Greece. Then, melancholia and mania were identified as extreme moods. This illness can fluctuate in individuals.

Several studies and researches have been conducted to identify and find solutions to this disease. In the nineteenth century, a French physiatrist by the name of Jean-Pierre Falret described bipolar disorder as “folie circulaire”. This refers to the cyclic nature of the disease. The term is coined from the French world “folie” which means madness or insanity. Thus, a patient with this problem is said to be suffering from “cyclic madness”.

Another French physician, Jules Baillarger who is a neurologist described the disease as “follie a double form”. This means dual-form in sanity. The work of Baillarger followed that of Falret as their work were done within the same period, that is, in the 1850’s.

In 1899, Emil Kraepelin was the first medical expert to use “manic depressive” to describe the phases of Bipolar Disorder. This German psychiatrist only describes the phases that a victim experiences.

In 1953, the German, Karl Kleist, first used the term “Bipolar Disorder” after the research carried out in 1953. Here, there were complete separations of the two opposite moods of mania and depression.

The above paragraphs give you a brief picture of how the term- Bipolar Disorder- evolved over the centuries.