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If you have got bipolar disorder, you might have to be on medication for the rest of your life. But with a good treatment plan, many people with bipolar disorder live full and productive lives.

• Periods of mania or depression are called episodes.  The average person has four episodes during the first ten years of the illness.  After that, the average length of time between episodes is between one and two years.

• If it is not treated, the average episode of mania or hypomania will last a few months. An episode of depression that goes untreated can last for 6 months or longer.

• In between episodes, many people go back to normal mood patterns. Others continue to have depression or mild swings up and down. Some people do not have much of a break between symptoms, and a few do not have any break at all.

• When you have four or more episodes in one year, it is called rapid-cycling bipolar disorder. Sometimes people can have several episodes in one week, or even in a single day. Rapid cycling tends to develop in people who have been diagnosed with bipolar disorder for some time and is more common among women than among men.