Understanding the bipolar spectrum has significant implications for the management of affective disorders in primary care. In this article, we summarise the main consequences for the treatment of patients with bipolar and unipolar depression within the context of general practice. By having an integrated and coherent care pathway between primary and secondary care to treat unipolar depression and bipolar disorder, treatment can be optimised, comorbidities can be identified, iatrogenic disorders can be minimised and the risk of suicide can be reduced.
Keywords: bipolar disorder, unipolar depression, diagnosis, treatment, guidelines, suicidality