In addition to mania and depression, bipolar disorder can cause a range of moods.
Unfortunately, for the general population, the term has been used to refer to anyone with extreme mood swings. This is not accurate to the diagnosis and creates great confusion and shame for those who do experience Bipolar shifts. Bipolar comes in two forms. The first form including extreme highs (often characterized by very little need for sleep) followed by a deep depression. The second form comes without these highs but rather a slightly elevated emotional state followed by drastic depression. While medication is the primary treatment of choice for both forms of Bipolar Disorder, therapy can assist the sufferer with needed changes that help to manage symptoms that eventually come while structuring life in such a way as to minimize each episode.
Bipolar disorder is found in several variations. Many individuals believe that only the chatty, high energy person is bipolar. In fact, it may be more subtle and harder to detect.
One or more manic episodes. Subcategories specify whether there has been more than one episode, and the type of the most recent episode. A depressive or hypomanic episode is not required for diagnosis, but it frequently occurs.
No manic episodes, but one or more hypomanic episodes and one or more major depressive episode. However, a bipolar II diagnosis is not a guarantee that they will not eventually suffer from such an episode in the future. Hypomanic episodes do not go to the full extremes of mania (i.e., do not usually cause severe social or occupational impairment, and are without psychosis), and this can make bipolar II more difficult to diagnose, since the hypomanic episodes may simply appear as a period of successful high productivity and is reported less frequently than a distressing, crippling depression.
