"Unipolar" and "bipolar" are terms describing mood disorders. Someone with a unipolar mood disorder has only one type of mood disturbance, such as depression or mania. Bipolar means having two alternating mood disturbances. For example, a person with bipolar disorder experiences alternating periods of depression and mania. Both unipolar and bipolar mood disorders cause distress and impairment and require treatment.
Unipolar Depression
Only having symptoms of depression is an example of a unipolar mood disorder. Some of the depressive symptoms, according to the "American Psychiatry Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders" ("DSM"), include sadness, loss of pleasure, sleeping disturbances, fatigue, appetite or weight changes, hopelessness, feeling guilty, concentration difficulties, and suicidal thoughts. People with severe depression may hallucinate or have delusions. Some people may experience symptoms of unipolar depression only once during their life and others may have repeated episodes of depression.
Unipolar Mania
Only having manic symptoms is another example of a unipolar mood condition. People with unipolar mania do not also experience depressive symptoms. Mania is marked with euphoria, elation or irritability, as noted by the "DSM." People experiencing a manic episode may need little sleep, be flamboyant or pompous, display hyperactivity, and speak or think very quickly. Mental health clinicians and researchers are debating whether mania alone is a disorder.
Bipolar Disorder
Bipolar disorder is characterized by alternating episodes of depression and mania. The up and down in mood is extreme and serious. Some people with bipolar disorder have periods with no depression or mania between mood changes and others have continuous fluctuations in mood. Mood changes are usually gradual, but some people experience rapid-cycling of moods.
Prevalence
Unipolar depression is the most common mood disorder. About 20 million American adults (about 7 percent of adults) have unipolar depression each year, as found in a study by Dr. Ronald Kessler in the June 2005 issue of the "Archives of General Psychiatry". Unipolar mania is rare. Bipolar disorder affects about 2 percent of American adults (6 million adults) every year, according to Dr. Kessler.
Treatment
A combination of antidepressants and psychotherapy is the most effective treatment for unipolar depression, as indicated by Dr. Martin Keller's findings in the May 18, 2000 issue of the "New England Journal of Medicine." For bipolar depression, medication is used to help stabilize fluctuating moods and psychotherapy helps with medication adherence, coping with mood changes, and strengthening social support.
References
- "Archives of General Psychiatry"; Prevalence, severity, and comorbidity of twelve-month DSM-IV disorders in the National Comorbidity Survey Replication (NCS-R); Ronald Kessler, Patricia Berglund, Olga Demler, Robert Jin, Kathleen Merikangas, and Ellen Walters; June 2005
- "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed. Text Revision)"; American Psychiatric Association; 2002
- "The New England Journal of Medicine"; A Comparison of Nefazodone, the Cognitive Behavioral-Analysis System of Psychotherapy and their Combination for the Treatment of Chronic Depression;. Martin Keller, et. al.; May 18, 2000
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