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Bipolar disorder is a disorder involving significant changes in mood and energy that affect negatively (and in some instances positively) the ability to carry out day to day tasks. A person with bipolar disorder has moods that usually alternate between mania, or extremely “up” mood and energy, and depression, or extremely “down”. Such mood swings and energy are different from the usual (and harmless) “ups” or “downs” a person usually feels. In bipolar disorder, the changes in mood or “mood swing” can last for hours, days, weeks, or even months. It can come over for as little as few hours in very “soft” cases or several weeks in more serious cases; the mood changes can be mild or severe and short or long. Sometimes, a mood episode includes symptoms of both mania and depression. This is called a mixed state. Also, in manic / hypomanic (less severe form of mania) episodes the mood swing can be that of irritable and not necessarily that of euphoria.
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Bipolar disorder encompasses a heterogeneous group of disorders characterized by cyclical disturbance in mood, cognition and behavior. The diagnosis requires a history of mania for at least one week. Bipolar I disorder refers to patients who have one episode of mania. Bipolar II disorder refers to patients with a history of hypomania and major depressive episodes. Cyclothymic refers to patients with chronic (at least 2-year duration) mood swings that fluctuate between hypomania and minor but not major depression.
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