By David Joel Miller, MS, Licensed Therapist & Licensed Counselor.

Since episodes of depression are a feature of Bipolar Disorder, how would we know if this is indeed Bipolar Disorder? And does it really matter?

Yes, it does matter. People who have Bipolar Disorder are more likely to have major problems in many areas of their life. Certainly, depression is debilitating, it causes more disability than lots of physical disabilities but Bipolar cases more noticeable and life-threatening problems. Treating someone who has Bipolar Disorder for depression may result in creating manic episodes and make the condition worse. No professional ever intends to make the patient worse, at least I hope not, but not seeing the signs of Bipolar can result in incorrect treatment. Now in fairness to doctors and other professionals often the client, not knowing the differences, fails to report symptoms that might have helped in getting the correct diagnosis. Here are some things that might indicate that the condition under treatment was, in fact, Bipolar Disorder and not Major Depression.

1. Sudden onset of episodes.

Clients with Bipolar are more likely to have sudden episodes of depression and sudden remission of depressive symptoms. Major Depression is more likely to creep up on you. And Major Depression rarely just goes away suddenly without treatment or some other reason. Bipolar Disorder may strike suddenly and it may switch to an elated mood or mania all of a sudden.

2. Early age of first onset.

There was a time when we thought little kids did not get depression, not anymore. Very small children do indeed experience episodes of depression. One way we have found this out is that more and more people who struggled with depression or Bipolar Disorder as children have become professionals.

The younger the child is when they first experience a mood disorder episode the more likely they are to go on and develop Bipolar Disorder. Now we are not saying that the child is to blame for being moody. If they are able to control the mood swings then it is not Bipolar or Depression. We are also not talking about that day-to-day moodiness or event-triggered moods that all children experience. Each type of mood disorder, depression, Dysthymia, Cyclothymia, Bipolar one, and two each have a minimum length of time that is needed. This separates the events of living from a true episode of a mental illness.

3. Presence of Psychosis

With Bipolar Disorder there is almost always some disturbance of reality. This does not mean that the client is hallucinating. Psychosis also includes delusions, irrational thinking, and lots of grandiosity. During manic episodes, people with Bipolar simply try to do way too much. And they believe they can and should be able to do these things.

There is also a diagnosis of Major Depression with Psychotic Features, so the boundary between Depression and Bipolar gets blurry the closer you look. The good news is it doesn’t matter which label you get, the treatment is about the same. The bad news is that by sticking with the treatment for depression sometimes the diagnosis and treatment of Bipolar Disorder gets delayed. If you or those around you say you have thinking problems, grandiosity or delusions make sure to tell the professional who is treating you. If you don’t have someone treating you and experience delusions, seek help quickly. The sooner you get help the better the prognosis.

4. Presence of “Psychomotor retardation”

During episodes of depression some people get so tired they have trouble moving. Sometimes they literally can’t get out of bed. These extreme levels of impairment may signal that this is Bipolar and not Depression.

5. Having “Atypical features”

Many people with depression become very agitated. They can’t sleep and they can’t eat. People with atypical features are just the opposite. A shorthand way of explaining Atypical features is like a bear hibernating for the winter. These clients eat all they can. They may be over hungry at certain times of the day. Then once they get to bed they want to, need to, sleep far beyond what other people do. During extreme episodes of depression with atypical features, a client will be unable to do anything but sleep and eat.

These “Atypical” features can be seasonal as in Seasonal Affective Disorder or they can come and go with the rhythms of the year.  Having an episode of depression with atypical features increases the chances that an episode of mania or hypomania is just around the corner and with that episode comes a diagnosis of Bipolar Disorder.

6. Having a sudden overwhelming improvement in depression mood when given an antidepressant.

Antidepressant medications need time to work. Usually, the effects of antidepressants build up slowly over time. Antidepressants are not “happy pills” they do not suddenly make someone happy. They should usually be coupled with some form of therapy or addressing life’s problems.

When people with Bipolar Disorder take antidepressants they are sometimes propelled from depression to mania. A sudden huge response to antidepressants needs to be monitored for possible mania or delusional thinking. Too much response to an antidepressant suggests that this is, in fact, Bipolar disorder.

If you are unsure about this or think you may have Bipolar instead of depression talk with your doctor, psychiatrist, or therapist before making any changes in your meds. Your doctor needs to know what is happening in order to monitor your condition and there can be adverse results to suddenly stopping or changing a medication.

7. Family history of Bipolar Disorder, Psychosis, Schizophrenia, or excessive irrational behavior.

The more people on your family tree with an issue, especially close relatives, the more likely you are to have problems. Being Bipolar has had some advantages in some situations. Many people with Bipolar disorder are highly creative and productive as long as they can keep things on track.

Some families have avoided getting professional help and so there may be no formal diagnoses but most families have their stories about family members with mental health issues. Family trees with lots of depression in them seem to produce more people with a genetic risk factor for depression. Families with lots of people who had hallucinations, delusions or mania increase the risk for Bipolar Disorder. Lots of substance abuse in your family tree increases risks for substance abuse and mental illness, for a variety of reasons. Remember however that risk factor does not equal an illness. Lots of people grow up in high-risk families and have no problems, other people are the first in their family to get a diagnosis or have a problem. We are still trying to figure out why this happens.

Hope this was food for thought for you and that it encouraged some people to go for the professional help they need.

Till next time this is David Joel Miller, LMFT, LPCC saying so long.

If you have any thoughts on depression or Bipolar Disorder and the differences between them, please leave a comment on this blog.

Staying connected with David Joel Miller

Seven David Joel Miller Books are available now!

My newest book is now available. It was my opportunity to try on a new genre. I’ve been working on this book for several years, but now seem like the right time to publish it.

Story Bureau.

Story Bureau is a thrilling Dystopian Post-Apocalyptic adventure in the Surviving the Apocalypse series.

Baldwin struggles to survive life in a post-apocalyptic world where the government controls everything.

As society collapses and his family gets plunged into poverty, Baldwin takes a job in the capital city, working for a government agency called the Story Bureau. He discovers the Story Bureau is not a benign news outlet but a sinister government plot to manipulate society.

Bumps on the Road of Life. Whether you struggle with anxiety, depression, low motivation, or addiction, you can recover. Bumps on the Road of Life is the story of how people get off track and how to get your life out of the ditch.

Dark Family Secrets: Doris wants to get her life back, but small-town prejudice could shatter her dreams.

Casino Robbery Arthur Mitchell escapes the trauma of watching his girlfriend die. But the killers know he’s a witness and want him dead.

Planned Accidents  The second Arthur Mitchell and Plutus mystery.

Letters from the Dead: The third in the Arthur Mitchell mystery series.

What would you do if you found a letter to a detective describing a crime and you knew the writer and detective were dead, and you could be next?

Sasquatch. Three things about us, you should know. One, we have seen the past. Two, we’re trapped there. Three, I don’t know if we’ll ever get back to our own time.

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