Concepts and misconceptions regarding clinical staging models

Should bipolar disorder treatment be modified depending on staging?

“…It is recognized that heterogeneity is a major issue among patients with bipolar disorder and the assumption that patients move through stages in linear fashion is not supported by data [2]. However, there is a very productive debate in the area of staging in bipolar disorder that will surely yield benefits for patients and the field as a whole [32][33][34]. In addition, retrospective studies present important limitations to assess number of episodes.…”