Two main treatment options for bipolar disorder include medication, like the mood stabilizer lithium, and therapy.

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Two main treatment options for bipolar disorder include medication, like the mood stabilizer lithium, and therapy.

woocat/Getty Images

Around 40 million people around the world have bipolar disorder, which involves cyclical swings between moods: from depression to mania.

Kay Redfield Jamison is one of those people. She’s also a professor of psychiatry at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and has written extensively about the topic, from medical textbooks to personal memoirs. In fact, Jamison penned one of the first memoirs ever written by a medical doctor living with bipolar, An Unquiet Mind.

Today on Short Wave, she joins us to talk about the diagnosis process, treating and managing bipolar disorder.

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Got a question about mental health? Let us know at shortwave@npr.org.

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This episode was produced by Rachel Carlson. It was edited by Rebecca Ramirez. Tyler Jones checked the facts. Kwesi Lee was the audio engineer.