When it comes to the types of Bipolar Disorder, there are certain things that are important to know. For example, during a mixed manic-depressive episode, features of both mania and depression are present at the same time.
In some instances, a sufferer can have extreme manic episodes in which they suffer severe psychotic symptoms such as delusions and hallucinations. Also, under ordinary conditions, incidents of mania and depression in a manic depressive patient are separated by periods of “normal” mood, but there, there are patients who suffer from a different kind of manic-depression in which the two extremes of emotion rapidly alternate. This one is known as rapid cycling bipolar disorder.
The above phenomena describe a number of the several different types of bipolar disorder that there are, which are mainly bipolar I, bipolar II, cyclothymia, and then a few other subdivisions of bipolar disorder that are based on the nature and severity of mood episodes experienced by the sufferer. These different types or manifestations of bipolar disorder describe a range often referred to as the bipolar spectrum. Of course, considering the abstract nature of the mental ailment, it is hard to specifically say how many types of bipolar disorder there are.
Some professionals actually conceptualize the bipolar spectrum as one of disorders occurring on a continuum, so that there sometimes is no clear distinction between types. In any case, the other forms of bipolar disorder not mentioned with the first three are generally listed as Bipolar Disorder NOS (Not Otherwise Specified). Sufferers of bipolar I disorder experience one or more manic episodes usually without any major bouts f depression in between, although there are instances of melancholy sometimes. A bipolar II disorder patient would have a number of hypomanic episodes (and not the usual manic episodes) and maybe one major depressive episode, although it may be more.
They rarely have actual manic episodes or mixed ones, though – the hypomanic crises aren’t as extreme or severe as actual mania, so they don’t often bring about severe social dysfunction or occupational impairment, and there isn’t any psychosis, making the condition harder to diagnose. Cyclothymia punctuates several hypomanic episodes with periods of mild depression, with low-grade mood cycling that seems like a personality trait, but hinders functioning; while patients with Bipolar Disorder Not Otherwise Specified have a range of symptoms that point to bipolar without fitting into any of the previous diagnoses.
