How is bipolar disorder diagnosed and classified?
Diagnosis of bipolar disorder is challenging because some of its characteristic symptoms (i.e., those associated with mania, depression, and psychosis) are also seen in other psychiatric disorders. Moreover, there is no specific symptom or biochemical feature unique to bipolar disorder. Therefore, bipolar disorder (like most psychiatric disorders) must be diagnosed based on the array of symptoms and course of the condition, plus other relevant factors, such as family history.
As in diagnosing schizophrenia, it is important to rule out medical conditions or other factors that may mimic the symptoms of bipolar disorder. This is necessary to ensure that appropriate treatment is selected. The differential diagnosis of bipolar disorder can be divided into three broad categories:
- medical factors
- pharmacologic factors (e.g., certain analgesics, antibacterial and antifungal agents, antihypertensives, antineoplastics, steroids, and neurologic and psychiatric drugs)
- other psychiatric disorders
Medical FactorsWhat are the Medical Factors that may cause manic or depressive symptoms? As shown in the table, most of the medical conditions that can cause symptoms of mania or depression involve the neurologic or endocrine systems or infections/inflammatory conditions. |
Pharmacologic FactorsWhat are the Pharmacologic Factors that cause mania or depression? A number of pharmacologic agents have been reported to cause symptoms of mania or depression.. |
Other Psychiatric DisordersWhat are the psychiatric Disorders other than bipolar disorder? Before bipolar disorder can be diagnosed, other psychiatric disorders that could cause the symptoms must be ruled out. |
DSM-IV-TR Bipolar DisorderWhat are the DSM-IV-TR specifies for classification of bipolar disorder? The DSM-IV-TR also provides clinicians with specifiers to further classify a patient's bipolar disorder, including.. |
The goals of the Medical Sites Network are to provide people with meaningful information to make informed decisions about their health and health care.