About the Different Types of Bipolar Disorder

Holding a doctorate degree from the University of Maryland, Uzi Ben-Ami, Ph.D., a Licensed Psychologist has spent more than 30 years working with children, adults, and families. Through his work, Uzi Ben-Ami, Ph.D., has helped address numerous types of mental health conditions, including bipolar disorder, which can fall within four different categories of diagnosis.

The most extreme version of the disorder is classified as Bipolar I, and is characterized by experiences of mania at least seven days in length, or acute hypomania that is severe to the point that the patient needs to be hospitalized. This classification also includes depressive states that are usually two weeks longer, but patients can also present with manic and depressive symptoms simultaneously. Bipolar II Disorder is like Bipolar I in that the patient experiences patterns of mania and depression, but in this category, the manic behavior is typically not as severe.

Cyclothymic Disorder is a milder classification, in that patients present with some symptoms of mania and depression over a two-year period, but the symptoms are typically not severe enough to be classified as full-blown mania or depressive episodes. Finally, all patients who present with bipolar symptoms that fall outside the diagnostic guidelines of the other three categories can be treated as Other Specified or Unspecified Bipolar and Related Disorder.