Quote:
Originally Posted by Anneinside
The most important distinctions between Bipolar I and II are: - A person with BP II experiences hypomanic episodes but not manic episodes. The difference between mania and hypomania is a matter of severity - hypomania generally does not impair a person's daily functioning or cause the need for hospitalization.
- Experience of psychotic symptoms such as hallucinations or paranoia indicates Bipolar I Disorder; the presence of such symptoms rules out Bipolar II.
I copied the above from : http://bipolar.about.com/cs/faqs/f/faq_bp12dif.htm |
There seems to be a clear difference in BP1 and 2 at the ends of the spectrum but in between it gets a bit blurry. Who is the judge of severity and whether it impairs your daily functioning, it is obvious when its really severe ie hospital or jail, or when its mild and difficult to detect, but in between its a grey zone - is it impairing function if you spend an entire day making patterns with numbers on a spreadsheet instead of working, or if your irritation gets you in trouble with work or family, or if you sign up for more work than you can handle and make promises that you can't live up too, how about cheating on a partner? What do you define as severe? Does it even matter? It's just to help the doctor's and for research purposes...