Loading...
Unipolar and bipolar disorders are frequently considered to be dichotomous — mania or hypomania is either present or absent. To learn more, researchers in Germany performed diagnostic assessments three times over 10 years in a community sample of 2210 people (baseline age range, 14–24).
The researchers used DSM-IV criteria, but subdivided the diagnoses to create seven categories: bipolar I disorder; bipolar II disorder; “pure” major depressive disorder (MDD); subthreshold bipolar disorder (MDD with subthreshold hypomania [≥4 days of elated or expansive mood but with <3 hypomania symptoms, or unusually irritable mood with ≥3 hypomania symptoms that were not observed by others]); pure mild depression (dysthymia, minor depression, or recurrent …