Short answers, pulled from the story.
French physician Jules-Gabriel-François Baillarger presented the first formal medical recognition of bipolar disorder to the French Imperial Académie Nationale de Médecine in 1854. He described the condition as madness in double form, a biphasic mental illness causing recurrent oscillations between mania and melancholia.
Genetic influences account for 73 to 93 percent of the risk of developing bipolar disorder, indicating a strong hereditary component. Twin studies show that the rate at which identical twins both have bipolar I disorder is around 40 percent, compared to about 5 percent in fraternal twins.
The annual average suicide rate in people with bipolar disorder is 0.4 to 1.4 percent, which is 30 to 60 times greater than that of the general population. An estimated 15 to 20 percent of those with bipolar disorder die by suicide, and approximately 30 to 60 percent attempt suicide during their lifetime.
Lithium is the only medication approved by the FDA for treating mania in children and has the best overall evidence for reducing suicide, self-harm, and death in people with bipolar disorder. It is considered an effective treatment for acute manic episodes, preventing relapses, and bipolar depression, and is preferred for long-term mood stabilization.
A 2024 meta-analysis and systematic review estimates that there is a global prevalence of approximately 8 percent of bipolar disorder amongst homeless individuals. In the United States, it was reported that in veterans with bipolar disorder, 55 percent reported being homeless at some point in their lives.
Actress Carrie Fisher went public with her bipolar disorder diagnosis in 2000, becoming one of the most well-recognized advocates for people with bipolar disorder in the public eye. She fiercely advocated to eliminate the stigma surrounding mental illnesses and helped draw attention to the disorder's chronicity and relapsing nature.