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Bipolar disorders in the Arab world: a critical review
Author(s) -
Kronfol Ziad,
Zakaria Khalil Mostafa,
Kumar Pankaj,
Suhre Karsten,
Karam Elie,
McInnis Melvin
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
annals of the new york academy of sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.712
H-Index - 248
eISSN - 1749-6632
pISSN - 0077-8923
DOI - 10.1111/nyas.12652
Subject(s) - ethnic group , economic shortage , bipolar disorder , psychiatry , presentation (obstetrics) , epidemiology , bipolar illness , affect (linguistics) , medicine , psychology , political science , cognition , mania , linguistics , philosophy , communication , government (linguistics) , law , radiology
Bipolar disorders are common psychiatric disorders that affect 1–5% of the population worldwide. Major advances in the epidemiology, pathophysiology, and treatment of the disorders have recently occurred. The majority of published reports, however, originate from the Western hemisphere, mostly Europe and the United States. There is a shortage of data from the Arab world on bipolar disorders. In an era of globalization and rapid communication, it is not clear to what extent research findings pertaining to one part of the world are by necessity applicable to other parts. Psychiatric disorders are known to be affected by the culture in which they occur, and knowledge of variations in illness presentation in different ethnic groups is also increasing. However, knowledge of variations affecting Arab populations remains quite limited. This paper provides a critical review of the literature on bipolar affective disorders in the Arab world, pointing to major gaps in knowledge and future opportunities to fill these gaps.