Overview

Goal

To understand the symptoms associated with depression and mania/hypomania.

What is Bipolar Disorder? (Otto et al., pp. 2-4)

Bipolar disorder is a mental health disorder that typically begins in the mid-teens and is equally common in men and women. It is typically characterized by repeated episodes of major depression and at least one manic or hypomanic episode. Hypomanic episodes are less severe and impairing than manic episodes. Here are common symptoms for depression and mania/hypomania:

Depression	Mania/Hypomania
Depressed mood	Feeling euphoric
Loss of interest in previously enjoyed activities	Irritability
Sleep difficulties	Racing thoughts
Excessive guilt	Distractibility
Low energy	Exaggerated feelings of importance
Difficulties concentrating	Little need for sleep
Increase or decrease in appetite (weight loss/gain)	Pressured speech
Psychomotor retardation or agitation	Reckless behavior
Suicidal ideation/behavior

Treatment (Otto et al., p. 15)

A combination of therapy and medication is often recommended for the treatment of bipolar disorder. This guide is designed to be an adjunct to other treatments you may already be receiving. Monitoring your mood is a critical aspect of managing bipolar disorder given the tendency to experience mood fluctuations and is a technique you will learn in this guide.

Next Step

To help determine if you are currently depressed, take the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale Revised (CESD-R), which can be found here: http://cesd-r.com/.

To help determine if you are experiencing mania/hypomania, take the Goldberg Mania Questionnaire, which can be found here: http://counsellingresource.com/lib/quizzes/bipolar-testing/goldberg-mania/.