Bipolar disorder is not a single disorder, but a category of mood disorders defined by the presence of one or more episodes of abnormally elevated mood, clinically referred to as mania. Individuals who experience manic episodes also commonly experience depressive episodes or symptoms, or mixed episodes in which features of both mania and depression are present. Also called bipolar affective disorder until recently, the current name is of  fairly recent origin and refers to the cycling between high and low episodes.

Diagnosis is based on the self-reported experiences of the patient as well as abnormalities in behavior reported by family members, friends or co-workers, followed by secondary signs observed by a psychiatrist, nurse, social worker, clinical psychologist or other clinician in a clinical assessment. There is a list of criteria that must be met for someone to be so diagnosed. These depend on both the presence and duration of certain signs and symptoms. This video explains the signs and symptoms bipolar disorder (manic depression). If you suspect that you, or someone you know may be bipolar then you should watch this video. You will learn the common signs and symptoms of this mental illness.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 22nd, 2008 at 11:10 am and is filed under Mind. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.