Staging Models in Bipolar Disorder

Since the initial description of bipolar disorder (BD), longitudinal observations suggested that episodes are more frequent as the disorder progressed. Staging models in BD consider that there is a subset of patients who present a more severe course of illness with a higher number of episodes and a propensity to treatment resistance. There is an emerging body of knowledge suggesting that staging models may provide clinicians with a useful tool to predict the course of illness and organize treatment strategies to individual patients. The aim of the present work is to review the evidence related to the use of staging models in bipolar disorder.