Diagnosing mental health symptoms can be a difficult and daunting task. Clinicians rely on self-reports from patients who may give inaccurate, vague or exaggerated descriptions of their symptoms. Many diagnoses are similar, and symptoms often...
Bipolar I and II disorders are distinguished from other mood disorders because they are marked by both major depressive and manic or similar extreme mood states that occur in cycles. Bipolar disorders may be diagnosed under six sets of criteria....
More than two million people in the United States currently live with manic-depression--known also as bipolar--according to Psychology Information Online. The main characteristics of manic depression are the extreme mood swings one experiences....
Bipolar disorder causes unusual shifts in moods and energy. Someone with bipolar disorder may go from feelings of depression to suddenly feeling overjoyed and enthusiastic. The disorder is also called manic-depressive illness. The depressed state...
Doctors identify this type of bipolar illness by severe mood swings. Patients will go from mania to depression within a matter of minutes. It is possible for the patient to feel mania without feeling depression; however, most patients with...
According to the National Institute of Mental Health, approximately 5.7 million Americans are affected by bipolar disorder, which causes a person to experiences drastic mood swings. The individual could be elated one day and severely depressed the...
Bipolar disorder is a severe mood disorder that usually begins in late adolescence or early adulthood. Most researchers agree that the disorder has no one specific cause, but multiple factors act together to cause bipolar disorder. The most common...
According to the National Institute of Mental Health, approximately 26 million Americans ages 18 and over suffer from some type of mood disorder each year. Of these 26 million, more than 5 million are cases of bipolar disorder. While debilitating,...
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...
Depression and bipolar disorders are both characterized as mood disorders in the American Psychiatry Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, or DSM. The DSM is the authoritative manual providing diagnostic criteria of mental disorders....
According to the experts at Mayo Clinic, manic-depression is better known as bipolar disorder, a condition which causes those who suffer from it to experience severe mood swings. They may go through periods of extreme highs, also known as mania,...
According to the National Institute of Mental Health, there are five types of depressive disorders: major depressive disorder, dysthymic disorder, psychotic depression, postpartum depression and seasonal affective disorder. There are three main...
All of the mental health diagnoses under the umbrella of bipolar disorders are characterized by intense highs and lows which are known by mental health professionals as mania, hypomania and major depression. Diagnoses are dependent on the amount,...
Bipolar disorder, which is also known as manic depression, is marked by volatile mood swings, causing patients to feel abnormally up on some days and very down on others. The exact cause of bipolar disorder is not completely understood, but there...
Depression is a psychological illness that is often over-diagnosed whenever someone is feeling the slightest bit sad, reports psychiatrist Gordon Parker of the University of New South Wales, based on a 15-year-study that he conducted. He describes...
Bipolar disorders are mental illnesses that are generally defined by an individual experiencing cycles of mania and depression. Bipolar disorders are usually associated with adults but can afflict teens and even children. In a manic depressive...
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,"...
Bipolar disorder, or manic-depressive disorder, is a form of depression interrupted by at least one period of mania. Most individuals with bipolar disorder alternate between periods of deep depression and severe mania. Both phases can be equally...
When you're experiencing spells of sadness interspersed with elation, it's natural to wonder if you might have bipolar disorder. In fact, though, only about 2.6 percent of American adults suffer from the disorder, according to the National...
Bipolar disorder is a treatable mental illness affecting more than 2 million Americans each year, according to HealthyPlace.com, a medically reviewed mental health information site. It is characterized by extreme mood swings that, when left...
Bipolar II is a psychological disorder that involves periods of hypomania, which is a less severe form of mania, and depression. The distinction of bipolar II as a separate disorder is relatively new, but the distinction from bipolar I is very...
The Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance states that bipolar disorder is the sixth leading cause of disability in the world, affecting more than 5 million adult Americans each year. Because of this, it is listed as an impairment in the Social...
Most people experience mood fluctuations from feeling "down" to feeling "charged." Bipolar disorder is a mood disorder associated with cycles of depressive and manic episodes. Bipolar disorder is distinctly characterized by extreme and often...
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...
Bipolar disorder is a mood disorder that tends to be diagnosed in adults, but has been found to occur in childhood as well. As reported by the National Institute of Mental Health, bipolar disorder occurs in 2.6 percent of the adult population. In...
Bipolar disorder is frequently misdiagnosed, so it's important to differentiate the symptoms from other disorders such a clinical depression. A bipolar disorder is marked, first of all, by extreme moods swings. In other words, periods of mania, or...
Men and women may exhibit bipolar disorder symptoms in very different ways. Women are much more likely to experience rapid cycling when it comes to bipolar disorders, which means that at least four instances of mania, hypomania and depression can...
According to a January 2010 report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately 21 percent of Americans will have a mood disorder in their lifetime. The mood disorders include the depressive disorders, which can be controlled...
