Those who are diagnosed with bipolar II are more likely to relapse than those with bipolar I. Their episodes of depression, mania or hypomania are often shorter than the episodes experienced by those with bipolar I but tend to return more often, according to Calabrese. It’s also far more common to relapse into depression than into mania or hypomania. Calabrese estimates that in bipolar II, there is a 40-to-1 ratio of depression to mania; the ratio of depression to mania drops to 3-to-1 in bipolar I.

“The key to recovery is a low tolerance for relapse,” says Calabrese.

“Relapse is self-perpetuating; once it happens, the more likely it is to happen again.”

“You can never say that someone with bipolar disorder has had their last episode; relapse is part of the illness,”

“Relapse is self-perpetuating; once it happens, the more likely it is to happen again.”

I need to remember this