{'fraction_non_alphanumeric': 0.013251783893985729, 'fraction_numerical': 0.0, 'mean_word_length': 5.8671328671328675, 'pattern_counts': {'":': 0, '<': 0, '<?xml version=': 0, '>': 0, 'https://': 0, 'lorem ipsum': 0, 'www.': 0, 'xml': 0}, 'pii_count': 0, 'substrings_counts': 0, 'word_list_counts': {'cursed_substrings.json': 0, 'profanity_word_list.json': 0, 'sexual_word_list.json': 0, 'zh_pornsignals.json': 0}}
Early intervention in bipolar disorders

The concept of early intervention for bipolar disorder (BD) is both attractive and logical as there is often a considerable delay between the onset of BD symptoms and diagnosis. This chapter addresses key definitional and conceptual considerations for early intervention in BD and exposes the expansive gaps in our knowledge of the phenomenology of BD, prognostication, and disease progression and trajectory. These gaps highlight that early intervention for BD—in terms of treatment specificity and timing—is far from being realised. There are though significant risks associated with implementing early intervention strategies at this stage, which may range from unnecessarily prescribing potentially harmful medication to perhaps inadvertently accelerating the progression of the illness. Until there are major scientific and clinical advancements, this chapter provides a conservative yet involved approach for early intervention in BD.