Diagnosing Bipolar Disorder
Sometimes called manic depression, bipolar disorder can be very difficult to diagnose. Oftentimes, the person who is affected by it doesn't even realize there is anything wrong. However, chances are that if you know someone who has bipolar disorder you will notice something is wrong as this disorder is characterized by intense mood swings as well as other symptoms.
The problem is that bipolar disorder can manifest itself differently in different people. The very nature of it is constant change. The fluctuating moods can fluctuate for different lengths of time and can also present themselves in different intensities.
Clinically, there are four different types of bipolar disorder as categorized in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-IV-TR. The first category is called Bipolar I, the second Bipolar II, the third Cyclothymia and the fourth is simply called Bipolar Disorder Not Otherwise Specified.
Someone who has Bipolar I has either mixed or manic episodes but doesn't necessarily have to have depressive episodes. While depressive episodes are not a required element of the diagnosis, they can be present.
Bipolar II is the more frequent diagnosis and its symptoms are at least one episode each of hypomania and depression.
Cyclothymic disorder is when the patient has numerous episodes of hypomania alternating with depression. The depressive episodes may not be characterized as full depression. But the basics of the Cyclothymia is that the moods are cycling even if they are not very intense. To an outside observer this person might just seem moody, when in fact they have a bipolar disorder that prohibits them from functioning normally.
If a patient has the mood swings of mania and depression but doesn't quite fit into any of the categories above then they are diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder Not Otherwise Specified.
Many people with bipolar disorder never seek help, because they don't realize that anything is wrong. Those that do are often depressed when they do seek help and many times they are misdiagnosed as having clinical depression. Therefore, it's important if you or a loved one has these manic depressive episodes to let the physician know so they can give an accurate diagnosis.