Stanley Foundation Bipolar Treatment Network

The Stanley Foundation Bipolar Network was created to address a gap in the needs of evaluating research in treatment for bipolar disorder. It evaluates treatments, clinical markers and neurobiolgoical factors involved in bipolar disorder. It considers long-term outcomes of treatment and has facilities in the USA, Netherlands and Germany.

Inadequate Studies Documenting Treatment

• One reason the Stanley Foundation was established was because of the lack of adequate studies documenting treatment of bipolar disorder. Long-term studies have been especially absent in considering outcomes of treatment for bipolar disorder.

Lithium Ineffectiveness

• A second reason the Stanley Foundation was created was to overcome the erroneous viewpoint that the use of lithium was adequately remedying bipolar disorder for most sufferers. The research and documentation developed by the Stanley Foundation helped to stimulate research into more fruitful methods of treatment than that of lithium, which has had limited success in treating bipolar disorder over the decades that it has been used.

Life Chart Methodology

• The Stanley Foundation tested, in a clinical study, the effectiveness of the Mental Health prospective Life Chart Methodology, which assesses the daily mood and episode severity as it is associated with impairment of the individual. It reached the conclusion that the Life Chart Methodology was an accurate assessment tool.