Bipolar disorder / manic depressive disorder is a mood disorder that occurs in approximately 2% of the population. This disorder is characterized by the occurrence of alternating manic and depressive episodes and has a highly recurrent nature. Unlike the “ordinary” (unipolar) depression, which frequently occur in women, bipolar disorder are just as common in men as in women.

In bipolar disorder symptomatic periods (mood episodes) and symptom-free intervals tend to variate. Mood episodes can be manic, hypomanic, depressed or mixed. The severity of these episodes can vary from light, where the demarcation with normal cheerfulness and gloom is only in degree, to very severe, where psychotic symptoms may also occur. The episodes can have an interval of years but they also tend to have a very short interval. When a patient is rapidly cycling between mood episodes it is also called Rapid Cycling.

Bipolar disorder comes in many variants, it is often spoken of as the “bipolar spectrum”. Besides the “classical” Bipolar I disorder (mania and depression) are the bipolar II disorder (depression with hypomania) and cyclothymie (frequently occurring periods of depressive and hypomanic symptoms).

Many patients are giving the wrong diagnosis because they only see a doctor when they feel depressed. When they are having a hypomanic or manic episode they will feel great and that is not a reason to see a doctor. That is why your doctor will very explicit ask how you feel after an episode of depression. Patients with manic depressive disorder need different medication than patients with primary depression and that is why it is very important to get properly diagnosed.