From Mad in Italy: Before the era of modern psychiatric drugs, manic-depressive illness (the forerunner of “bipolar disorder”) had an episodic natural history, with long periods of full recovery, low chronicity, and limited disability (Angst & Sellaro, 2000; Journal of Affective Disorders, 2009). Whitaker documents that its transformation into a chronic, recurrent, and highly disabling condition coincides with the introduction and spread of antidepressants, antipsychotics, and mood stabilizers (Whitaker, 2010).
