Bipolar disorder and socioeconomic status: what is the nature of this relationship?

A significantly higher SES was associated with the lithium-responsive form (LiR) of BD when compared with patients continuing to relapse despite adequate lithium treatment (representing other types of bipolar spectrum). Our observation suggests that the discrepant literature findings about SES and BD may be better explained by the change in diagnostic practices: early studies describing a positive relationship included mostly classical manic-depressive disorder, while the patients in recent studies have been diagnosed according to much broader criteria, reflecting the era of bipolar spectrum disorder.