The Validity of Schizophrenia vs. Bipolar Disorder

By C. Ray Lake, MD, PhD

Schizophrenia remains the most widely known psychiatric disorder worldwide. This is shown by the tens of millions of research dollars spent annually by governments and pharmaceutical companies, the tens if not hundreds of thousands of patients treated yearly, the hundreds if not thousands of manuscripts, conferences, seminars, and lectures, the acceptance of schizophrenia as a “bona fide” disorder by the general medical and scientific communities, the media, and the public, and the daily use of the term as an adjective. Such broad acceptance, along with the massive accumulation of research data, seems to place the concept of schizophrenia beyond question.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

C. Ray Lake, MD, PhD, is Professor, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Kansas School of Medicine, Kansas City.

Address correspondence to: C. Ray Lake, MD, PhD, 3901 Rainbow Blvd., Kansas City, KS 66160-7341; fax: (913)-588-1310; or e-mail: lake@kumc.edu.

Dr. Lake has disclosed no relevant financial relationships.

doi: 10.3928/00485718-20100127-03

EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES

1. Differentiate the consistencies of the historical concepts of bipolar disorder versus schizophrenia and distinguish that the diagnostic criteria for bipolar disorder are unique and disease-specific in contrast with those of schizophrenia.

2. Compare the validities of schizophrenia versus bipolar disorder.

3. Outline the signs and symptoms of bipolar disorder.

This CME activity is primarily targeted to patient-caring physicians specializing in psychiatry. Physicians can receive AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™ by reading the CME articles in Psychiatric Annals and successfully completing the quiz at the end of the articles. Complete instructions are given subsequently. Educational objectives are found at the beginning of each CME article.

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Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder: No Dichotomy, a Continuum, or One Disease?
C. Ray Lake, MD, PhD

The Psychotic Continuum: Follow the Evidence, but How is it Interpreted?
Jan Fawcett, MD

Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder:No Dichotomy, A Continuum, or One Disease?
C. Ray Lake, MD, PhD

 Molecular Genetics and the Kraepelinian Dichotomy: One Disorder, Two Disorders, or Do We Need to Start Thinking Afresh?
Nick Craddock, MA, MD, MmedSci, PhD, FRCPsych; Michael J. Owen

 Psychotic Depression or Schizophrenia
Conrad M. Swartz, PhD, MD

 Schizophrenia and Schizoaffective are Psychotic Mood Disorders
Daniel J. Aires, MD, JD; Nathaniel G. Hurwitz, MD

Overlaps between Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder
Robert M. Post, MD

The Continuum of Psychosis — 1986-2010
Timothy J. Crow, MBBS, PhD, FRCP, FRCPsych, FMedSci