What is the difference between Bipolar ii Disorder and Bipolar I Disorder? Do you know the answer? Many don’t though it’s very specific.
Bipolar ii disorder has all of the same symptoms as bipolar I disorder with one MAJOR difference. Bipolar I disorder has full blown mania that often comes with psychosis. Bipolar ii disorder has hypomania that rarely comes with psychosis. My dear friend Sherri has bipolar I disorder. She has to be very careful as her mania is always lurking around and waiting to take over. She takes lithium and zyprexa to keep the mania and psychosis at bay. I have bipolar ii hypomania. Mine is very euphoric though it can be agitated. Mine doesn’t have psychosis- my bipolar psychosis can be around without any other serious mood swings though I am usually depressed.
Bipolar I disorder was the only bipolar disorder recognized for many, many years. Recently, the bipolar ii disorder diagnosis has become more common as doctors now know the signs of hypomania.
I have just as much trouble with bipolar ii disorder as my friend Sherri has with her bipolar I diagnosis. Just in different ways.
This is a fascinating topic- there is a lot of information on the right that describes the difference between the two bipolar disorder diagnoses. Which one do you have? If you care about someone with the illness? What is their diagnosis? Knowing your diagnosis is extremely important as it determines the medications used to treat the illness!
Julie
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Thanks for the breakdown for those out there that dont know the difference!
I have Bipolar 11 and some doctors try and say i dont have Bipolar because of the lack of pyscosis, they are still unaware of the two kinds and the differences, It gets very frustrating…
Hi Jaime,
I assume you are talking with general doctors? They don’t study much psych in school and unless they do a lot of outside study, it can be really hard to understand the ins and outs of bipolar II. My doctor is a general doctor and he is wonderul- what I admire most is that he will ask me for information when he is not sure of something.
So, I do care about and respect doctors greatly, but the doctors you have talked with are confused. The difference between bipolar I and bipolar II is the intensity of the mania. The diagnosis has nothing to do with psychosis. Psychosis is certainly present for a lot of people with bipolar II, but it’s not a prerequesit! Also, it may be that you have had psychosis that you didn’t know was psychosis. That happened to me for over ten years. My psychosis article will be out in the next few months. There will be a link on this blog- I think it will clear up a lot of misperceptions about bipolar disorder and psychosis!
Thanks for writing, Julie
dear Julie.
I just found your blog yesterday while looking for some self-injury prevention websites. I’m only 20 years old, but I’ve been having some strange mental symptoms since I was a child and I’m concerned about where to turn. I don’t know if this is even the right place to ask…
basically, when I was younger I’d have trouble sleeping because I’d constantly see things that werent there… as I grew older, I stopped seeing things, but have been considered an insomniac since I was a small child. Except, I love sleeping. I sleep for a long time, and sometimes I can’t make it through the day without taking a nap. Sometimes I can’t sleep at all. Then I was diagnosed with ADD by a neurologist and put on medication that made me lethargic and very irritable. I’ve always had those negative thoughts in my head saying I was ugly and unwanted and stupid, and have even argued with them aloud. As I grew older, high school hit, and my junior year, I was transformed. I was in a turbulent romantic relationship, and before I knew it, I was 18, and my just-turned-17 year old self who’d never had more than a sip of alcohol, vehemently virginal in all senses (despite on-and-off extremely sexual urges) had been hospitalized for a suicide attempt, was frequently indulging in self-harm, had become extremely promiscuous, was kicked out of college after my first semester for poor marks, and was experimenting with drugs and alcohol.
The doctor who performed my psych-ward-intake asked me questions about bipolar and had come to the conclusion I did not have it. I was required to see a psychiatrist and a counselor after my discharge. After being placed on Zoloft for anxiety (in high school I started having panic attacks a lot) and Trazodone for my “insomnia” things were getting marginally better, but I was still either exciteable or depressed, just not as extreme as before. The psychiatrist suggested trying Seroquel as a mood stabilizer. I have an aunt (adopted) with bipolar I and when I asked him (in my mother’s presence, since I was a minor) if he suspected I had bipolar disorder, he said he wanted to try it and my mother said no. (She lived in a troubled home as a child, and often had to take care of my severely bipolar aunt, who was often becoming violent and being placed in mental hospitals for it as a child.) My mother did not want to associate me with my aunt’s kind of uncontrollable nature. She said I was not bipolar, she knew me, and I was nothing like her.
After that, I was taken off Zoloft, Trazodone, and my ADD medication. I have not been medicated since, and my symptoms are becoming as severe as they were when it began. Does this sound like bipolar disorder? I know you’re not a psychiatrist, but I’m wondering if I should be reevaluated and if I should pursue bipolar treatments now that I’m old enough to do so, and out of my parents’ home. I fit many of the symptoms of bipolar II, and I’m often having mood swings reminiscent of rapid cycling, not that I’m qualified to self-diagnose, either. I don’t really have all the funds to go on a wild goose chase for a diagnosis, though.
please help.
Hi Jasmine,
You really show a lot of insight and courage. You should DEFINITELY see a health care professional and get a second opinion. You don’t have to live with these mood swings. If you do have bipolar disorder, antidepressants are not the correct treatment at all as they can cause mania and agitations- and a lot of sleep problems. The true definition of bipolar disorder is.. bipolar disorder is an illness that makes it difficult for people to regulate their moods. There are two main mood swings in bipolar disorder: mania, depression and psychosis. but a person with bipolar also experiences anxiety including OCD symptoms and ADHD symptoms. If you have mania, you have bipolar disorder.
You can’t have bipolar without having had a manic episode – either a full blown episode or a hypomanic episode. This is the #1 criteria for bipolar. So, you definitely need more answers. And answers create hope. You have a lot going for you and I can see that you will find the answers and get the help you need.
Julie
Thank you. I’m getting really sick of being the “crazy” girl who sporadically cries for no reason, but will also ride on the hoods of cars for a thrill. It’s getting a little too weird for me! haha. and thank you very much for your compliments, it means a lot. You’ve also helped me accept that, bipolar or not, I need to figure something out. I’m almost grown, after all.
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