Differences in Depressive Episodes Across Bipolar I, II, and Major Depression
In a recent retrospective study, people with bipolar disorder I, bipolar disorder II, and major depressive disorder were interviewed about a 14-year period of their illness, and several differences emerged.
People with bipolar disorder I described their illnesses as including more psychomotor retardation (slowing of movements) and more psychotic features. People with bipolar disorder II had more mixed states than both people with major depression and people with bipolar I disorder. They also had less psychomotor slowing than people with bipolar I disorder.
Another purpose of this study by Andrew Frankland and colleagues in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, was to determine the effectiveness of the Probabalistic Approach to Bipolar Disorder, a statistical method for differentiating diagnoses. The approach was successful in differentiating both bipolar subtypes from major depression, but not in differentiating between the bipolar subtypes.
