What Bipolar II Disorder Really Looks & Feels Like

Bipolar II disorder is a less severe version of bipolar I disorder. That’s likely an assumption you’ve already come across. Maybe you read it in an article. Maybe you heard it from someone else, maybe even a mental health professional. Author Julie Kraft has heard bipolar II called “bipolar light” and “diet bipolar.” This is a common belief, because mania is a defining feature of bipolar I disorder. And mania has devastating consequences. Empty bank accounts. Soaring debt. Lost jobs. Broken relationships. Divorce. Car accidents and injuries. But bipolar II isn’t less severe than bipolar I. It’s different. It’s best to think of bipolar II as having “unique characteristics and complications,” said Michael Pipich, MS, LMFT, a psychotherapist who specializes in mood disorders in Denver, Colo., and author of Owning Bipolar: How Patients and Families Can Take Control of Bipolar Disorder. In order to be diagnosed with bipolar II, you need to have a history of one hypomanic episode and one episode of major depression, he said. You also need at least one person to confirm a noticeable change in your behavior, which provides a clearer picture of consequences, he said. For instance, a wife recounts that her normally penny-pinching husband goes on several shopping sprees—and ends up regretting it. (For a diagnosis of bipolar I, the only requirement is one manic episode, and the person’s subjective report is enough.) The consequences in bipolar II can be painfu...
Source: Psych Central - Category: Psychiatry Authors: Tags: Bipolar Disorders General Personal Stories Self-Help Stigma Treatment being healthy with bipolar Bipolar 2 Bipolar II disorder Depression Hypomania Hypomanic Episode Major Depressive Episode managing bipolar II disorder Source Type: news