Manic Depression
...ic varies and usually ranges from a few days to several months. The intervals between episodes range from days to months to years. An individual will eventually recover from depression or mania without treatment but usually recovers more quickly with treatment. Before 1940 the average time of a depressive episode was about four months, of a manic episode about three months. Some periods of depression lasted as long as a year or more. After 1960, because of the reaction to the use of new medications, episodes tended to be shorter. Some people discover a predictable pattern, while others do not. In a 1973 study of 400 patients who had a manic-depressive episode only two did not have a recurrence. Other studies reveal that before the introduction of the drug Lithium, about 75% of manic patients had more than one episode in their lifetimes. The first episode of manic depressive illness usually occurs in young adulthood. The occurrence of manic episodes in people over 50 is often an indication of some other medical illness or of some effects of drugs, alcohol or steroids. Men and women are equally susceptible to this disease. 1 to 2 percent of the population is expected to develop manic-depressive illness in a lifetime. A few historical figures who have had this illness are Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt and Winston Churchill. They were all reported to have experienced manic episodes followed by black periods of depression. Other well-known people with manic-depressive illness, both in the past and present, include authors E Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway, and actresses Patty Duke and Vivien Leigh. Researchers have not identified a single cause of manic-depressive illness. Genetic inves...