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Symptoms And Treatment Of Bipolar II

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Bipolar II disorder is a relatively common mental illness that affects upwards of 6 million United States citizens. This disease is very complex and often difficult to diagnose. What makes this illness clinically unique is that it is characterized by extreme mood swings that alternate between extreme highs and extreme lows. Bipolar II differs from bipolar I disorder, as that the high moods of bipolar II are milder than bipolar I, which means that bipolar II patients spend more time in the low depressive states of their cycling mood. Bipolar II is often much more difficult to diagnose than bipolar I (Parker 18), which is why it is the subject of this literature review. The criteria used to diagnose bipolar II and the interpretation of these criteria is subject of continuous scholarly debate. Researchers suggest that the difficulty in diagnosing bipolar II disorder stem from an inconsistency in diagnostic criteria, an underrepresentation of hypomanic symptoms and most notably, confusion between other psychiatric disorders. Inconsistency in Diagnostic Criteria A significant area of dissension among scholars and psychiatrists is whether bipolarity is viewed on a spectrum (the dimensional approach) or viewed as a specific set of symptoms (the categorical approach). Ghouse at el. argue that the strict “black and white” criteria of the DSM-5 should be used methodically in order to precisely dichotomize for the purpose of solidifying a diagnostic definition. Ghouse at el. come to

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