About a year ago, I was diagnosed as Bipolar II. Prior to that, about fifteen years before that, I started being treated solely for depression. I also feel like in the last couple of months, I've been experiencing rapid-cycling between depression and hypomania.
According to Dictionary.com
- Depression - a condition of general emotional dejection and withdrawal; sadness greater and more prolonged than that warranted by any objective reason.
- Euthymia - a pleasant state of mind.
- Hypomania - a mania of low intensity
- Mania - a type of affective disorder characterized by euphoric mood, excessive activity and talkativeness, impaired judgment, and sometimes psychotic symptoms, as grandiose delusions.
According to MedMD.com
- Bipolar I - involves periods of severe mood episodes from mania to depression
- Bipolar II - is a milder form of mood elevation, involving milder episodes of hypomania that alternate with periods of severe depression
- Cyclothymia - describes periods of hypomania with brief periods of depression that are not as extensive or long-lasting as seen in full depressive episodes
- Rapid-cycling - a term that describes having four or more mood episodes within a 12-month period. Episodes must last for some minimum number of days in order to be considered distinct episodes. Some people also experience changes in polarity from high to low or vice-versa within a single week, or even within a single day -- the full symptom profile that defines distinct, separate episodes may not be present (for example, the person may not have a decreased need for sleep), making such "ultra-rapid" cycling a more controversial phenomenon. Rapid cycling can occur at any time in the course of illness, although some researchers believe that it may be more common at later points in the lifetime duration of illness. Women appear more likely than men to have rapid cycling. A rapid-cycling pattern increases risk for severe depression and suicide attempts.
Today? A peaceful day for me. Thank God!
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