Bipolar disorder, previously known as manic depression, is a mental disorder characterized by periods of depression and periods of abnormally elevated mood that each last from days to weeks. If the elevated mood is severe or associated with psychosis, it is called mania; if it is less severe and does not significantly affect functioning, it is called hypomania. During mania, an individual behaves or feels abnormally energetic, happy or irritable, and they often make impulsive decisions with little regard for the consequences. There is usually also a reduced need for sleep during manic phases. During periods of depression, the individual may experience crying and have a negative outlook on life and poor eye contact with others. The risk of suicide is high; over a period of 20 years, 6% of those with bipolar disorder died by suicide, while 30–40% engaged in self-harm. Other mental health issues, such as anxiety disorders and substance use disorders, are commonly associated with bipolar disorder.
Bipolar I disorder is a type of bipolar spectrum disorder characterized by the occurrence of at least one manic episode, with or without mixed or psychotic features. Most people also, at other times, have one or more depressive episodes. Typically, these manic episodes can last at least 7 days for most of each day to the extent that the individual may need medical attention. Also, the depressive episodes will be approximately 2 weeks long.
Major depressive disorder (MDD), also known as clinical depression, is a mental disorder characterized by at least two weeks of pervasive low mood, low self-esteem, and loss of interest or pleasure in normally enjoyable activities. Introduced by a group of US clinicians in the mid-1970s, the term was adopted by the American Psychiatric Association for this symptom cluster under mood disorders in the 1980 version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-III), and has become widely used since.
A mood disorder, also known as an affective disorder, is any of a group of conditions of mental and behavioral disorder where a disturbance in the person's mood is the main underlying feature. The classification is in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) and International Classification of Diseases (ICD).
Schizoaffective disorder is a mental disorder characterized by abnormal thought processes and an unstable mood. This diagnosis requires symptoms of both schizophrenia and a mood disorder: either bipolar disorder or depression. The main criterion is the presence of psychotic symptoms for at least two weeks without any mood symptoms. Schizoaffective disorder can often be misdiagnosed when the correct diagnosis may be psychotic depression, bipolar I disorder, schizophreniform disorder, or schizophrenia. This is a problem as treatment and prognosis differ greatly for most of these diagnoses.
Premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) is a mood disorder characterized by emotional, cognitive, and physical symptoms. PMDD causes significant distress or impairment in menstruating people during the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle. The symptoms occur in the luteal phase, improve within a few days after the onset of menses, and are minimal or absent in the week after menses. PMDD has a profound impact on a person's quality of life and dramatically increases the risk of suicidal ideation and even suicide attempts. Many women of reproductive age experience discomfort or mild mood changes prior to menstruation. However, 5–8% experience severe premenstrual syndrome causing significant distress or functional impairment. Within this population of reproductive age, some will meet the criteria for PMDD.
Adjustment disorder is a maladaptive response to a psychosocial stressor. It is classified as a mental disorder. The maladaptive response usually involves otherwise normal emotional and behavioral reactions that manifest more intensely than usual, causing marked distress, preoccupation with the stressor and its consequences, and functional impairment.
Dysthymia, also known as persistent depressive disorder (PDD), is a mental and behavioral disorder, specifically a disorder primarily of mood, consisting of similar cognitive and physical problems as major depressive disorder, but with longer-lasting symptoms. The concept was used by Robert Spitzer as a replacement for the term "depressive personality" in the late 1970s.
Dysphoria is a profound state of unease or dissatisfaction. It is semantically opposite to euphoria. In a psychiatric context, dysphoria may accompany depression, anxiety, or agitation.
Intermittent explosive disorder is a behavioral disorder characterized by explosive outbursts of anger and/or violence, often to the point of rage, that are disproportionate to the situation at hand. Impulsive aggression is not premeditated, and is defined by a disproportionate reaction to any provocation, real or perceived. Some individuals have reported affective changes prior to an outburst, such as tension, mood changes, energy changes, etc.
Atypical depression is defined in the DSM-IV as depression that shares many of the typical symptoms of major depressive disorder or dysthymia but is characterized by improved mood in response to positive events. In contrast to those with atypical depression, people with melancholic depression generally do not experience an improved mood in response to normally pleasurable events. Atypical depression also often features significant weight gain or an increased appetite, hypersomnia, a heavy sensation in the limbs, and interpersonal rejection sensitivity that results in significant social or occupational impairment.
A major depressive episode (MDE) is a period characterized by symptoms of major depressive disorder. Those affected primarily exhibit a depressive mood for at least two weeks or more, and a loss of interest or pleasure in everyday activities. Other symptoms can include feelings of emptiness, hopelessness, anxiety, worthlessness, guilt, irritability, changes in appetite, difficulties in concentration, difficulties remembering details, making decisions, and thoughts of suicide. Insomnia or hypersomnia and aches, pains, or digestive problems that are resistant to treatment may also be present.
Depressive personality disorder is a psychiatric diagnosis that denotes a personality disorder with depressive features.
Bipolar disorder in children, or pediatric bipolar disorder (PBD), is a rare mental disorder in children and adolescents. The diagnosis of bipolar disorder in children has been heavily debated for many reasons including the potential harmful effects of adult bipolar medication use for children. PBD is similar to bipolar disorder (BD) in adults, and has been proposed as an explanation for periods of extreme shifts in mood called mood episodes. These shifts alternate between periods of depressed or irritable moods and periods of abnormally elevated moods called manic or hypomanic episodes. Mixed mood episodes can occur when a child or adolescent with PBD experiences depressive and manic symptoms simultaneously. Mood episodes of children and adolescents with PBD are different from general shifts in mood experienced by children and adolescents because mood episodes last for long periods of time and cause severe disruptions to an individual's life. There are three known forms of PBD: Bipolar I, Bipolar II, and Bipolar Not Otherwise Specified (NOS). The average age of onset of PBD remains unclear, but reported age of onset ranges from 5 years of age to 19 years of age. PBD is typically more severe and has a poorer prognosis than bipolar disorder with onset in late-adolescence or adulthood.
Bipolar II disorder (BP-II) is a mood disorder on the bipolar spectrum, characterized by at least one episode of hypomania and at least one episode of major depression. Diagnosis for BP-II requires that the individual must never have experienced a full manic episode. Otherwise, one manic episode meets the criteria for bipolar I disorder (BP-I).
Minor depressive disorder, also known as minor depression, is a mood disorder that does not meet the full criteria for major depressive disorder but at least two depressive symptoms are present for a long time. These symptoms can be seen in many different psychiatric and mental disorders, which can lead to more specific diagnoses of an individual's condition. However, some of the situations might not fall under specific categories listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Minor depressive disorder is an example of one of these nonspecific diagnoses, as it is a disorder classified in the DSM-IV-TR under the category Depressive Disorder Not Otherwise Specified (DD-NOS). The classification of NOS depressive disorders is up for debate. Minor depressive disorder as a term was never an officially accepted term, but was listed in Appendix B of the DSM-IV-TR. This is the only version of the DSM that contains the term, as the prior versions and the most recent edition, DSM-5, does not mention it.
Mixed anxiety–depressive disorder (MADD) is a diagnostic category defining patients who have both anxiety and depressive symptoms of limited and equal intensity accompanied by at least some autonomic features. Autonomic features are involuntary physical symptoms usually caused by an overactive nervous system, such as panic attacks or intestinal distress. The World Health Organization's ICD-10 describes Mixed anxiety and depressive disorder: "...when symptoms of anxiety and depression are both present, but neither is clearly predominant, and neither type of symptom is present to the extent that justifies a diagnosis if considered separately. When both anxiety and depressive symptoms are present and severe enough to justify individual diagnoses, both diagnoses should be recorded and this category should not be used."
Cyclothymia, also known as cyclothymic disorder, psychothemia / psychothymia, bipolar III, affective personality disorder and cyclothymic personality disorder, is a mental and behavioural disorder that involves numerous periods of symptoms of depression and periods of symptoms of elevated mood. These symptoms, however, are not sufficient to indicate a major depressive episode or a manic episode. Symptoms must last for more than one year in children and two years in adults.
Melancholic depression, or depression with melancholic features, is a DSM-IV and DSM-5 specifier of depressive disorders. The specifier is used to distinguish clinically relevant subsets of causes and symptoms that have the potential to influence treatment.
Disruptive mood dysregulation disorder (DMDD) is a mental disorder in children and adolescents characterized by a persistently irritable or angry mood and frequent temper outbursts that are disproportionate to the situation and significantly more severe than the typical reaction of same-aged peers. DMDD was added to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-V) as a type of depressive disorder diagnosis for youths. The symptoms of DMDD resemble many other disorders, thus a differential includes attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), oppositional defiant disorder (ODD), anxiety disorders, and childhood bipolar disorder, intermittent explosive disorder (IED), major depressive disorder (MDD), and conduct disorder.
