Depressed people may actually have bipolar disorder even if they don't experience full-blown episodes of mania, according to a new study from the National Institute of Mental Health. The study found that depressed people who have short episodes of increased energy and activity and especially those with a family history of bipolar disorder are at risk for the disease themselves.
- The old thinking was that bipolar disease is characterized by depression followed by episodes of mania that last several weeks or months.
- During the "manic" phase of bipolar disease, the person may go without sleep, have increased levels of energy and activity, speeded-up thinking and euphoria.
- Then the person "crashes" into depression, often accompanied by suicidal thoughts.
- This new study indicates that depressed people who experience low levels of mania, even an episode lasts just a few hours or days, may actually have bipolar disease.
- Dr. Kathleen Merikangas, an investigator with the Intramural Research Program at the National Institute of Mental Health in Maryland, used information about mood disorders gathered from more than 5000 households in her study.
- Dr. Merikangas said that people who have up-and-down shifts in moods, even ones that are short, should be evaluated by mental health professionals.
"There is a continuous shading from pure depression to classic bipolar disorder," said Dr. Gregory Simon, a psychiatrist and chair of the scientific advisory board of the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance. "This study gives stronger evidence for that continuous shading and demonstrates more clearly that milder symptoms of hypomania are truly related to bipolar disorder."
The study appears in the American Journal of Psychiatry.
Labels: depression, bipolar, mental_health
Posted By: Jane St. Clair