A Questionnaire based Survey of Psychiatrists practicing in India to Determine their Diagnostic and Management Practices for Bipolar Disorders in Clinical Practice

Bipolar Disorder is a serious disorder of mood that is associated with considerable psychosocial and economic morbidity. Misdiagnosis of the illness as recurrent unipolar depression is common, leading to initiation of medicines that adversely affect the condition’s course. Despite their widespread use, considerable uncertainty and controversy remains about the use of antidepressant drugs in the management of depressive episodes.

There are limited data from India to suggest whether availability of newer options [atypical antipsychotics (mono/combination with mood stabilizers), antiepileptic agents (for acute mania), and psychosocial interventions for maintenance] have reflected in prescription behaviour of psychiatrists in treatment of BPD. Moreover, India specific data are missing with reference to treatment recommended in guidelines and prevailing in the clinical practice.

There is significant unmet medical need in understanding various important aspects in the management of BPD such as treatment of different phases of BPD; place of combination medications; treatment for mixed states, hypomania, rapid cycling; place of antidepressants in treating bipolar depression; use of psychological therapies and electroconvulsive therapy (ECT); etc. At present, there are scarce published data on the prevalent diagnostic and treatment practices for patients suffering from BPD among psychiatrists practicing in India. Hence, this study will be conducted to gather data on prescription patterns of psychiatrists practicing in India for acute and maintenance phases of BPD and identify gaps (if any) between guideline recommendations and  treatments most frequently chosen by them.