2. Prodromes in bipolar disorder
2. 1. Definitions
The word prodrome comes from the Greek word “prodromos” which indicates the forerunner of an event. In medicine, prodromes are defined as the early signs and symptoms that herald a full episode. Molnar, Feeney, and Fava (1988) defined the termื prodromes generally as the interval from the time that the first symptoms were recognised to the time when the symptoms reached maximum severity. Lam and Wong (1997) defined bipolar prodromes as any cognitive,behavioral and affective signs or symptoms that may make patients think they are entering an early stage of an episode. In the mental health arena, it is often used pragmatically as a short-hand for the early warnings that patients may he at the early stages of an episode. The presentation of such first prodromal symptoms can be idiosyncratic and is probably the result of a complex mixture of biology, psychological makeup and past experiences. Thus,prodromes can be strikingly different to a full blown episode or can be similar to the full blown episode but of less intense quality.