660 Exam 3 - NEI MC Question and answers

660 Exam 3 - NEI MC Question and answers A. Shorter interval between episodes, worsened emotionality, worsened cognitive impairment Rationale: Throughout the course of illness, patients with bipolar disorder will experience manic or hypomanic episodes, depressive episodes, and inter-episode periods during which they are generally well but may have subsyndromal symptoms. The pattern of episodes can differ for each patient; however, in general the clinical course of bipolar disorder is progressive. That is, as the number of episodes a person has had increases, the interval between episodes gets shorter and emotionality may worsen. In addition, cognitive impairment seems to worsen with the length of illness. Increasing episode number is also associated with reduced likelihood of treatment response.