No Gender Differences in Bipolar Disorder

Doctor Ellen Leibenluft explains that women and men are equally likely to develop bipolar disorder. Women are, however, more likely to develop the disorder after giving birth.

There are no gender differences in the prevalence of bipolar disorder. In other words, men and women are equally likely to have the illness. There is some evidence that women with bipolar disorder may tend to have particularly frequent depressions relative to men. There’s also some evidence, although it’s not entirely clearcut, that women may be more likely than men to have what’s called rapid cycling bipolar disorder, which means that they shift very rapidly between depression and mania. Importantly, women with bipolar disorder are at risk for having an episode when they are postpartum, so that’s a very important aspect of gender issues if you will and bipolar disorder. [At] the postpartum period, right after a woman with bipolar disorder has a baby, she’s at very high risk to have an episode particularly actually of mania or mania mixed with depression.