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Bipolar I, Bipolar II and Soft Bipolar: Information on the Bipolar Disorder Continuum
What does it all mean and what’s it got to do with depression?
Bipolar disorder affects approximately 5.7 million Americans, or about 2.6% of the U.S. population age 18 or older every year. (National Institute of Mental Health)
The median age of onset for bipolar disorder is 25 years.(National Institute of Mental Health)
Consumers with bipolar disorder face up to ten years of coping with symptoms before getting an accurate diagnosis, with only one in four receiving an accurate diagnosis in less than 3 years. (DBSA 2000)
It used to be that we would hear about “manic-depressive illness.” Maybe it would be an article about Patty Duke. Or a book of personal experience of the illness like An Unquiet Mind by Kay Redfield Jamison. Manic states might be associated with spending sprees; the depressive pole with hospitalization and shock treatments. One term describing extreme states of heightened energy and grandiose ideas on one end, and the depths of depression on the other. It gave the impression that those suffering the illness were relatively rare and relatively recognizable.
But as you can see, bipolar disorder affects millions of people and diagnosis may take some time. And since 1987 the medical community has been exploring the idea that what we now call Bipolar 1 is one point on a continuum, a milder form of the disorder another point and multiple points beyond described as soft bipolar disorder. And if we followed along the line even further we would eventually reach the other end of the scale, unipolar depression. Read the rest of this entry »