I don't know much about it but knew one person who had it, although she called it having manic depression, the older name for it. Apparently there are two types - I and II. I do know anti-epilepsy drugs are now used for illnesses that they weren't originally devised for. There is a clinical psychologist called Kay Redfield Jamison who has it and has written some books on the subject. I read one of them - The Unquiet Mind - over ten years ago. The person I knew had a psychiatric nurse attached to the Maudsley as she lived in Camberwell. PaulK, you should be ashamed of yourself. Edited to add: I just googled Kay Redfield Jamison and there is lots about her.