Discover the latest research breakthroughs and practical resources to better understand and manage bipolar disorder.
Every day, new research and resources about bipolar disorder enter the world. Which ones should you pay attention to? What impact do they have on real people?
Here, you’ll discover the biggest new scientific findings about bipolar disorder and the context to make sense of them. You’ll learn:
- Is there a bipolar gene?
- Do misaligned biological clocks trigger manic episodes?
- Could sleep changes be the earliest sign of hypomania?
You’ll also get recommendations for a podcast that reveals what top doctors at Cleveland Clinic think about diagnosing and treating bipolar disorder, as well as a new novel featuring a main character who has bipolar disorder, written by a bestselling author and neuroscientist.
When you know the latest developments about bipolar disorder — and understand what they mean for you — you’ll be better equipped to thrive while living with the condition.
Large International Study Finds New Genetic Links to Bipolar Disorder
In a study published in the journal Nature in January 2025, researchers found 298 genomic regions connected to 36 genes that have a unique link to bipolar disorder. This is new information — 267 had never before been identified.
What the Research Says
Nearly three million people with and without bipolar disorder participated in the study. The researchers compared the genomes of more than 150,000 people with bipolar disorder to peers without the condition. Participants lived all over the globe and included individuals of European, East Asian, African, and Latino ancestry. Because so many people across the world participated, the researchers could identify more genetic links than ever before.
The genes linked to bipolar disorder relate to many different neurological processes. Some have to do with dopamine, while others are associated with calcium and GABA. Two of the genes involve the large intestine and the pancreas, pointing to a potential connection between the gut-brain axis and bipolar disorder.
Why It Matters
It’s well known that bipolar disorder tends to run in families. But what isn’t yet known is exactly which genetic factors make someone at risk for the condition. Knowing what genes are linked to bipolar disorder could eventually help aid in diagnosis and treatment.
What This Means for You
- There is no single bipolar gene. No individual gene means you will definitely be diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Each of the 36 genes identified in this study seems to slightly increase your risk of having the diagnosis. Plus, bipolar disorder is still thought to have many contributing causes outside of genetics.
- In the future, a genetic test could help you understand your personal bipolar risk or what treatments will work best. It could be that someday, your healthcare provider will have you spit into a tube and run a genetic analysis that will reveal how many of these bipolar-linked genes you carry. Knowing your genetic risk for bipolar disorder might help you make choices to protect your mental well-being or be on the lookout for early symptoms. It’s also possible the results could point to which medications might be particularly effective in your case. If you have a gene that’s associated with bipolar disorder and impacts your dopamine levels, for example, a medication targeting dopamine might be a customized way to target your bipolar symptoms. Before tests like this can be developed, more research is needed to confirm the findings.
- Hear more directly from one of the researchers. An episode of the podcast Science Friday included a conversation with a co-author of the study, Niamh Mullins, PhD, an assistant professor of psychiatric genomics at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York. When you listen to the 12-minute segment, you’ll hear more about what the researchers found and what it could mean for the future of bipolar diagnosis and treatment.
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Two Biological Clocks May Be Misaligned in Bipolar Disorder: What You Need to Know
A new study published in Science Advances involving mice suggests that a mismatch between two internal clocks — the circadian rhythm and a second, dopamine-based clock — could trigger mood episodes in bipolar disorder. Shutting off the dopamine-based clock in mice put a stop to mood cycling, according to the results of the study.
What the Research Says
This research builds on other studies about abnormal sleep-wake patterns in bipolar disorder. Specifically, some research has found that people with bipolar disorder have sleep-wake cycles that stretch beyond the typical 24 hours. In this 48-hour pattern, you have a shorter sleep one night and a longer sleep the next, and your mood state changes, too.
In this new study, researchers tried to replicate these too-long circadian rhythms in mice through dopamine. To do this, researchers fed the mice methamphetamine (meth) and used infrared sensors to monitor activity. After drinking meth-laced water, the mice showed an extended sleep-wake cycle similar to that seen in some people with bipolar disorder. On days when they slept less, the mice moved more, which the researchers likened to the increased activity seen in bipolar manic states.
The researchers say this means that taking meth activated a second biological clock related to dopamine. It’s this clock that seems to drive shifts between mania and depression, they argue. To help prove the point, the researchers gave the mice an antipsychotic, effectively blocking the dopamine clock. The mice’s mood cycling stopped, as did their sleep-wake changes.
Why It Matters
Scientists don’t know exactly what triggers mood episodes in bipolar disorder. If they did, targeted medications or lifestyle changes could address these triggers directly, addressing the cause of bipolar disorder and not just its symptoms. If more research shows that the circadian rhythm and dopamine-based clock are misaligned in humans with bipolar disorder, it could lead to new treatments.
What This Means for You
- Misaligned internal clocks could drive mood episodes in bipolar disorder. It may be that activation of the dopamine-based clock drives shifts between mania and depression in bipolar disorder. This is an area of research to watch.
- New treatments are still a long way off. Scientists often use animals as a way to study health conditions that humans have. Doing so helps protect people from any risks involved in the experiment. But this type of research is just a first pass. Unfortunately, the results often don’t translate to people. So it’s not time yet to make any personal changes based on the research results.
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Sleep Changes Could Be First Clues of a New Hypomanic Episode
Because mood episodes, particularly mania and hypomania, are difficult to see coming, and since both impact your sleep, the researchers behind a new study published in the Journal of Affective Disorders wondered: Could sleep changes be the earliest sign of a new hypomanic episode?
What the Research Says
To figure out the answer, researchers enlisted the help of 156 adults with bipolar 1 or 2 disorder. Participants agreed to wear an Oura ring, a wearable device that tracks health metrics, and answer weekly questions about their manic symptoms for at least a year. This way, the researchers could see how sleep and activity levels matched up with mania signs.
Fifty participants had at least one hypomanic episode. When researchers looked at the Oura ring data for this group, they found that starting three days before people noticed hypomania symptoms, their sleep began to change from baseline, with changes in activity level coming about two and a half days before other mood symptoms arose. The results suggest that if you have bipolar disorder, when your sleep and activity levels start to change, a hypomanic episode might not be far behind.
While the results are informative, 50 people is not a large number when it comes to being able to make sweeping research claims. Bigger studies are needed to confirm whether sleep changes really are an early symptom of an upcoming hypomanic episode.
Why It Matters
When you have bipolar disorder, signs that your mood is changing are often subtle. Subtle can mean easy to miss. Not realizing you’re heading toward or already in a (hypo)manic state can lead to destructive consequences. On the flip side, having a clear warning sign, like data from your wearable device showing your sleep patterns are changing, could mean early access to care and potentially heading off a full-blown manic episode.
What This Means for You
- Self-track your mood and sleep. This research adds another layer of support to the long-standing advice to track your moods and sleep to help you manage bipolar symptoms. If you notice yourself sleeping more or less than usual, this research suggests you should take those changes seriously and consider reaching out to your healthcare provider. Together, you can figure out how best to support mood stability.
- Hope for clarity about mood episodes. It’s difficult to know if you’re entering hypomania or just feeling good between mood episodes. If these research findings hold up, wearable technology could someday give you an objective way to tell. This could allow for early intervention and prevent the pain of an unchecked manic episode.
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Podcast Reveals What Top Doctors Really Think About Bipolar Disorder
Have you ever wanted to hear, in unfussy terms, exactly how top doctors think about bipolar disorder today? With this episode on bipolar disorder on Neuro Pathways: A Cleveland Clinic Podcast for Medical Professionals, you can.
What You Should Know
The first audience for this podcast is medical professionals — if you’re a doctor or nurse who listens, you can get continuing education credits. But make no mistake: There’s plenty in the half-hour episode for anyone who has an interest in bipolar disorder.
When you listen, you’ll hear a conversation between two physicians about the latest in diagnosis and management of bipolar disorder. They go over bipolar diagnosis, treatment, and potential pitfalls. At the end, Edward Kilbane, MD, the medical director of emergency psychiatry at Cleveland Clinic, also offers special advice for people with bipolar disorder and their loved ones.
Why It Matters
Knowing how healthcare professionals think about helping people with bipolar disorder levels the playing field for people living with the mental health diagnosis. If you have bipolar disorder, a listen to this podcast episode will leave you feeling clear-headed about your health condition. You’ll know more about treatments you can ask your healthcare provider about. It’s also the kind of resource you can share with anyone you know who wants to better understand your mental health journey.
Key Takeaways
- Diagnosing bipolar disorder is tricky. For instance, it’s common for people to be diagnosed with major depressive disorder when they really have bipolar disorder. It’s nobody’s fault — it can take a while to diagnose because someone may not have had (or recognized) a hypomanic or mania episode yet.
- You can address bipolar symptoms in multiple ways. Dr. Kilbane recommends a combination of pharmaceuticals, talk therapy, and lifestyle changes. For medications, mood stabilizers and atypical antipsychotics are the gold standard, he says. Kilbane recommends two types of therapy: cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and family-focused therapy. He also discusses when intensive outpatient or inpatient care might be needed and shares his thoughts on innovative treatments like electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), ketamine, and psilocybin.
- Bipolar disorder is a chronic disease. You don’t age out of bipolar disorder, but Kilbane says existing treatments mean you can live well with this lifetime brain-based health condition.
- If you notice bipolar symptoms in yourself or a loved one, get checked out by a mental health professional. You may not have bipolar disorder, but if you do, it’s better to catch it early. Early diagnosis and treatment mean fewer disruptions to your life, says Kilbane.
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Authentic Novel Inspires Understanding and Empathy for Bipolar Disorder
Lisa Genova, PhD, neuroscientist and New York Times bestselling author of Still Alice, has written a new book exploring bipolar disorder called More or Less Maddy: A Novel. More or Less Maddy joins Dr. Genova’s other half-dozen books in shedding light on life-altering brain-based health conditions.
What You Should Know
The novel is about Maddy Banks, who is a college student at New York University when things start to get out of control. At first, she can’t get out of bed. Later, she barely needs to sleep. She’s begun to experience the impact of bipolar 1 disorder. But like most people with bipolar disorder, the path to diagnosis and stability isn’t straightforward.
The story follows Maddy during those first tender years. But it’s not just a novel about Maddy’s psychiatric condition. It’s also about Maddy’s path to finding herself — including her new love of and talent for stand-up comedy.
Why It Matters
Genova has a knack for writing stories that help the public empathize with complex neurological and brain-based illnesses. In the past, she’s covered Alzheimer’s disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), traumatic brain injury (TBI), autistic spectrum disorder (ASD), and Huntington’s disease. With More or Less Maddy, she turns her attention to bipolar disorder.
Although Genova doesn’t have bipolar disorder herself, in the acknowledgments, she thanks over a dozen people with bipolar disorder whose expertise helped inform the book. These lived experiences and Genova’s scrupulous dedication to accuracy mean More or Less Maddy has the potential to increase understanding and help people feel less alone.
Key Takeaways
- This novel doesn’t shy away from tough stuff. Some of what makes this book feel true to life might be too much for some readers. Maddy’s story includes themes of self-harm and suicide. If you know that reading about those topics could threaten your current stability, now might not be the right time to pick up this book.
- It’s an ultimately hopeful novel. Maddy’s bipolar journey isn’t easy, but it’s also not a tragedy. Readers will root for Maddy as she discovers who she is and how that fits with her new bipolar disorder diagnosis.
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