Bipolar

By HAYDEN FINCH, PhD In my first post in this series, I confessed something has really been bothering me – the misuse of the word “bipolar” over the last decade.  In that post, we chatted about what a manic episode really is, by definition.  And then in my second post, we talked about depressive episodes […]

By HAYDEN FINCH, PhD In my last post, we started chatting about the difference between Bipolar Disorder and being “bipolar.”  And we reviewed some of the diagnostic criteria for being manic.  Today, let’s continue our discussion by talking about the other “pole,” the depressive side of the illness. Diagnostic Criteria: Depressive Episode A major depressive

By HAYDEN FINCH, PhD Friends, I have to be honest.  Something is really bugging me, and has been for a long time.  I hear people on TV, in the grocery store, and in my office say they’re “bipolar.”  I even hear physicians tell me someone is “bipolar.”  And even though I have a PhD and