ISBD 2014 - 16th Annual Conference of the International Society for Bipolar Disorders

Bipolar disorder is a severe and debilitating mental illness, which has only recently started to receive the necessary attention from society, researchers, practitioners, government, and private funding agencies. In response to the need for further awareness, education, and research on this severe mental illness, the International Society for Bipolar Disorders was created. The Society has as its missions the promotion of awareness of this condition in society at large, promotion of awareness and education about this condition among mental health professionals, fostering research on all aspects of bipolar disorder, and promotion of international collaboration in this area.
The International Society for Bipolar Disorders was launched at the 3rd International Conference on Bipolar Disorders, in Pittsburgh, PA, June 17, 1999, by David J. Kupfer, M.D., Founding President. Material distributed to all of the delegates at the conference contained an invitation letter and an enrolment form.
The first issue (September, 1999) of Bipolar Disorders - An International Journal of Psychiatry and Neurosciences, the official journal of the Society, contained a similar enrolment form. The Journal was accepted into the Institute of Scientific Indexing in 2000, was accepted into Medline and Index Medicus in 2001, and received the impact factor of 5.221 in 2010, ranking it 10th out of 126 rated psychiatric journals.
The Society is growing in membership with an elected board representing 17 countries. The ISBD is a major source for emerging research and clinical data on bipolar disorders and is the only bipolar focused, research-oriented Society working to bring this data to patients, families, and other mental health professionals working on the front lines of bipolar care.