Bipolar II Disorder
(continued)
How Is Bipolar II Disorder Different From Other Types of Bipolar Disorder?
People with bipolar I disorder experience true mania -- a severe, abnormally elevated mood with erratic behavior. Manic symptoms lead to serious disruptions in life, causing legal or major personal problems.
In bipolar II disorder, the symptoms of elevate mood never reach full-on mania. Hypomania in bipolar II is a milder form of mood elevation. However, the depressive episodes of bipolar II disorder are often longer-lasting and may be even more severe than in bipolar I disorder. Therefore, bipolar II disorder is not simply a "milder" overall form of bipolar disorder.
WebMD Medical Reference
Reviewed by
Joseph Goldberg, MD on May 14, 2012
© 2012 WebMD, LLC. All rights reserved.

