Bipolar Diagnosis

ADHD Vs. Bipolar Disorder Diagnosis

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and bipolar disorder are two psychiatric disorders that are often misdiagnosed due to similar symptoms. Accessing the onset of symptoms, nature of mood changes, hyperactivity levels and family...

A Wrong Diagnosis for Bipolar Disorder

People with bipolar disorder experience intense mood swings from mania to depression. Unfortunately, nearly 70 percent of bipolar people get misdiagnosed, according to a 2000 study by Robert Hirschfeld, M.D and colleagues at the University of...

How to Get an Accurate Diagnosis of Bipolar Disorder

Bipolar disorder is a mental health condition that is characterized by episodes of mania and depression. People with bipolar disorder fluctuate between extreme happiness and extreme sadness. Moods can change very suddenly, and these swings can be...

How to Test for Bipolar Disease

Bipolar disease is also known as manic depression and is a serious psychiatric condition. It causes feelings of extremely elevated mood, energy and activity (so called manic episodes) followed by other periods of depression. Depending on the...

Characteristics of the Different Types of Bipolar

When a person receives a diagnosis of bipolar disorder, therapists distinguish among three different types of the disorder: bipolar I disorder, bipolar II disorder and cyclothymia. When a therapist or psychiatrist pinpoints the specific diagnosis,...

What Is Bipolar Disorder NOS?

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) published by the American Psychiatric Association includes Bipolar Disorder Not Otherwise Specified (NOS) as one of several classifications that fall under the bipolar disorder...

How to Help Adolescents With Manic Depression

Manic depression, also called bipolar disorder, affects nearly 6 million Americans. For many years, professionals considered bipolar an adult mental disorder. Now, however, the bipolar diagnosis occurs before the age of 25 in half of all cases....

Bipolar Statistics in Children

"The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders" identifies bipolar disorder, or manic-depressive illness, as a mental illness that causes extreme mood and energy shifts along with swings in activity levels affecting the ability to...

What Is Bipolar Depression & Mania?

Highs and lows are a normal part of life. Those with bipolar depression and mania, however, experience these in extreme and often have problems with daily life and relationships. Recognizing the symptoms, understanding treatment options, and...

Bipolar Warning Signs

Bipolar disorder is also known as manic-depression because it causes severe shifts in moods that cycle from an elevated euphoria to extreme depression. According to Sunshinefromdarkness.org, as many as 20 percent of people who visit their doctor...

Diagnostic Criteria for Bipolar

According to the DSM-IV-TR (2000) Bipolar disorders affect up to 1.6 percent of the population. There are two categories of bipolar disorders, bipolar I and bipolar II. Previously called manic depression, bipolar I and II are mood disorders and...

Alcoholics With Bipolar Disorder

It is not uncommon for alcoholics to have a secondary bipolar diagnosis. While the reasons for this coexistence remain muddied, as does an understanding of which condition appears first, what is clear is that the presence of both in unison can...

A Child With Bipolar Disease

When diagnosed in childhood, bipolar disease is called early-onset bipolar disease. In the United States, this brain disorder affects at least 750,000 children, according to the National Mental Health Information Center. Bipolar disorder, also...

Genetic Factors of Bipolar Disorder

The repercussions of bipolar disorder can devastate an individual’s life with social and career disruptions and suicidal thoughts. The person with bipolar disorder can phase between episodes of paralyzing depression and uncontrollable mania...

List of Bipolar Medicines

Bipolar disorder is a serious mood disorder. Everyone goes through normal ups and downs in life, sometimes feeling happy and sometimes feeling sad. People with bipolar disorder, however, have moods that swing to extremes--their depression is not...

Emotional Problems in Children

A significant amount of children experience emotional problems that often result in psychiatric diagnoses and treatment. A combination of reasons factor in to the development of emotion based disorders such as family environment, genetics and...

Abnormal Mood Swings

Normal people occasionally experience mood swings, in which they feel happy one day and sad the next. But when these mood swings become extreme and occur regularly, they may be considered abnormal. Depending on the circumstances and the pattern of...

Marriage to a Manic Depressive

Bipolar disorder, or manic depression, can be seriously damaging to a marriage. Bipolar disorder is an illness marked by intense mood changes. Marriages in which one spouse has bipolar disorder may be tense and lack predictability. Sometimes, the...

Bipolar Disease Stages

More than 2 million Americans are diagnosed with bipolar disorder, also known as manic depression, according to Psychology Information Online. While this disorder has a variety of stages, or classes, not everyone who is diagnosed will experience...

Bipolar & Progesterone

Bipolar disorder is a severe mental illness causing debilitating symptoms that can have a drastic impact on your life. Interestingly, a form of bipolar disorder, known as rapid-cycling bipolar disorder, is often diagnosed more frequently in women...

Definition of Bipolar 1 Disorder

Approximately 5.7 million adults in the U.S. have received a diagnosis of bipolar disorder, or manic-depressive illness, a "brain disorder that causes unusual shifts in mood, energy, activity levels, and the ability to carry out day-to-day tasks,"...

What Is Bipolar NOS?

If you're having intense mood swings similar to manic and depressive phases, you might be diagnosed with bipolar disorder NOS (not otherwise specified) if you don't meet the criteria for any of the other bipolar disorders. Bipolar I, bipolar II...

Characteristics of a Manic Depressive Person

Manic depression, also known bipolar disorder, is a condition that affects as many as 2 million Americans, according to the University of Maryland Medical Center. Its effects range from mild to severe, and its time span ranges from short,...

Bipolar Disorder Test Procedures

It is common to experience mood swings at some time during your life, but when mood swings become severe and chronic, they can be disruptive and harmful. Bipolar disorder is characterized by abnormally extreme episodes of depression and mania....

Dual Diagnosis Definition

Dual diagnosis occurs when a person has an alcohol or drug problem and a mental illness. Many people who abuse alcohol or drugs have at least one mental disorder, which may include depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorder or personality...

Types of Bipolar Disorder in the DSM-R IV

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders or DSM published by the American Psychiatric Association specifies four diagnostic categories and criteria for bipolar disorder. The diagnosis of which type it is depends on the symptoms a...

Diagnostic Criteria for Bipolar Disorder

Also called manic depression, bipolar disorder is a mood disorder that is defined by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, or the DSM. For a patient to be diagnosed with one of the four types of bipolar disorder, she must...

Bipolar Disorder Treatments & Medications

Bipolar disorder is a mental disease that causes both depression and mania symptoms in patients. According to the Child and Adolescent Bipolar Foundation, diagnosis of bipolar disorder is done with the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental...

Prognosis & Treatments for Bipolar Disorder

Bipolar disorder is a form of mental illness characterized by alternating cycles of depression and manic behavior. Though the disorder can be serious and debilitating, a number of strategies exist to effectively manage its symptoms. Through...

Bipolar Disorder Health Video (Video)

Mania, depression, recklessness and listlessness are the extremes associated with bipolar disorder, a mental illness characterized by mood instability that can be serious and disabling. Bipolar disorder is also known as manic-depression or...