What is the major difference between depression and bipolar disorder?

The main difference between the two is that depression is unipolar, meaning that there is no “up” period, but bipolar disorder includes symptoms of mania. To differentiate between the two disorders, it helps to understand the symptoms of each one.

What are 5 signs or symptoms of bipolar depression?

Understanding the Difference Between Depression and Bipolar Disorder

• Bipolar Sign 1: Abnormal or Excessive Elation or Energy.
• Bipolar Sign 2: Racing Thoughts and Speech.
• Bipolar Sign 3: Grandiose Thinking.
• Bipolar Sign 4: Decreased Need for Sleep During Manic Episodes.
• Bipolar Sign 5: Hypersexuality.

Can bipolar be mistaken for depression?

As a consequence, Schwartz says, those with bipolar disorder are often misdiagnosed as having depression and may be given inappropriate treatment. “When bipolar disorder is missed, people can be put on medication that actually worsens the manic symptoms,” Schwartz says.

How can you tell the difference between depression and mania?

With depression, typically, people experience only periods of sadness, or depressed mood that we’ve been talking about earlier. With manic depression, it requires that a person also have a period of a least a week of having what is called mania. Mania involves feeling unusually energetic.

Is bipolar depression worse than depression?

People with either depression or bipolar disorder may have bouts of severe depression and difficulty regulating their emotions, whether they are happy or sad. But unlike people with depression, those with bipolar disorder also experience manic episodes, during which they can be very destructive.

How does a person with bipolar act?

Bipolar disorder can cause your mood to swing from an extreme high to an extreme low. Manic symptoms can include increased energy, excitement, impulsive behaviour, and agitation. Depressive symptoms can include lack of energy, feeling worthless, low self-esteem and suicidal thoughts.

How does depression relate to bipolar?

Bipolar disorder, formerly called manic depression, is a mental health condition that causes extreme mood swings that include emotional highs (mania or hypomania) and lows (depression). When you become depressed, you may feel sad or hopeless and lose interest or pleasure in most activities.

How do you explain bipolar depression?

Bipolar disorder, also known as manic depression, is a mental illness that brings severe high and low moods and changes in sleep, energy, thinking, and behavior. People who have bipolar disorder can have periods in which they feel overly happy and energized and other periods of feeling very sad, hopeless, and sluggish.

How do I know if I have bipolar depression or mania?

Bipolar depression shares many of the same symptoms of regular depression. Manic episodes are often harder to identify because many people don’t understand what the symptoms of mania are. If you experience episodes of depression followed by the following symptoms of mania, you may have bipolar disorder.

Why is it difficult to diagnose bipolar disorder?

Diagnosing bipolar disorder can be difficult. While it is not hard to distinguish between its two characteristic phases—the high spirits of mania and the low spirits of depression —it is challenging to tell if someone who reports low mood is suffering from a depressive disorder or is in the depressive phase of bipolar disorder.

Should I talk to my doctor about my bipolar disorder symptoms?

Learn more about treatments for bipolar disorder. If you think that you or a loved one has signs or symptoms of bipolar disorder, your first step should be to talk to your doctor. Only a trained medical professional can diagnose this disorder, and diagnosis is key to getting proper treatment.

What is the difference between bipolar disorder and depression?

Bipolar disorder and depression are very similar illnesses with one major difference: People with bipolar disorder switch between episodes of depression and episodes of mania. Because these two illnesses are so similar, some people who are diagnosed as having depression may actually have bipolar disorder.