- Hey, everybody.
Today we're going to talk about bipolar 2 disorder.
What is it and how does it differ from bipolar 1 disorder?
Now, I know we have a lot of new people here.
Welcome.
If you have a question or concern
and you're wondering if I've talked about it before,
just hop into the search bar on YouTube,
put in my name, Kati Morton
and some keywords for your search
like anxiety, depression, stress, et cetera.
I have over I think almost 1200 videos
so chances are I've talked about it already.
Okay, now let's get into bipolar 2 disorder.
In order to be diagnosed,
someone must meet the criteria for a hypomanic episode
and a major depressive episode.
Now, a hypomanic episode is characterized
by having a distinct period of abnormally
and persistently elevated, expansive or irritable mood
and an increased activity or energy
lasting at least four consecutive days
and present for most of the day nearly every day.
While feeling like this,
you must also have three or more of the following.
Number one, inflated self-esteem or grandiosity.
Number two, decreased need for sleep.
Number three, more talkative than usual
or feel pressure to keep talking.
Number four, you experience flight of ideas
or thoughts racing.
Number five, you're easily distracted.
Number six, have an increase in goal-directed activity
and number seven, you have an excessive involvement
in high risk activities.
If you meet that criteria,
remember, you must also meet the criteria
for a major depressive episode and that criteria is
and you must have five or more of the following symptoms
and they must have been present
during the same two week period
and represent a change from previous functioning.
Also, at least one of those five symptoms must be,
I know this is kinda confusing bust just stick with me,
one of those five must be either having a depressed mood
or a loss of interest or pleasure in things, okay?
The other symptoms are, remember,
so we have to have one of those and a total of five
so we have to look for four of one of these.
Significant change in your weight.
Could be weight gain or weight loss.
Significant changes in your sleep,
either sleeping too much or not enough.
Feeling really restless
so much so that other people in your life notice it
and have maybe mentioned it to you
or your healthcare provider.
Feeling fatigued
or having a loss of interest nearly every day.
Also, experiencing feelings of worthlessness
or excessive or inappropriate guilt.
Could also have diminished ability to think or concentrate
or be really indecisive.
I don't know if you remember that really old video I did
about the most untalked about symptom of depression.
It was difficulty concentrating and so that's it right there
and the final one is having recurrent thoughts of death
or suicidal ideation.
Now, with all that diagnostic stuff out of the way
and hopefully you've also already watched my other video
about bipolar 1 disorder.
I'm sure you can see that the only difference
between bipolar 1 and bipolar 2 is a manic episode.
Those with bipolar 2 disorder
never experience a manic episode.
They experience a hypomanic one
and if they do experience mania,
that means they're misdiagnosed
and their diagnosis will be changed to bipolar 1 disorder.
So bipolar 2 could turn into bipolar 1
but all that really means
is that they were misdiagnosed from the beginning
and the mania really it's possible hadn't shown itself yet.
Now, the difference between a manic and hypomanic episode
is really the severity.
Those with hypomania do have the same symptoms as mania.
They just don't occur to the same degree and that's really,
it's kind of, it's a difficult thing for me to parse out
and communicate to you
but just know that when it comes to a diagnoses,
it's all about our level of functioning.
So someone with hypomania may be irritable and feel terrible
and not need as much sleep
but they're still maybe able to function
a little bit in their life.
Someone with mania wouldn't be able to
and if you any of you have experienced either,
please leave your thoughts on this
in the comments down below.
That way we can learn more about the difference together.
Now, I know a lot of people call bipolar 2 disorder
bipolar depression.
That's not the actual diagnosis name.
It's not what we call it
and I believe that's because it could be confused
with the major depressive episode
that's experienced in both bipolar disorders.
Both one and two have it.
So know that bipolar depression
is part of both bipolar disorders
and it's not a diagnosis itself.
At least it's not in the US.
I know other countries have different diagnostic codes
and names but as far as I'm concerned
and I actually did a little research
to look into other countries, I didn't see it
but if you disagree or you know different,
let us know down below.
Also, a lot of people wonder how bipolar disorder looks
any different from quote on quote normal people
and to be honest, those with bipolar disorder
can live wonderful and fulfilling lives
and nothing about them is really different.
However, if you interact with someone
who is in an episode like depression, hypomania or mania,
they can act just like you would expect
someone in that state to act.
They can be depressed, they can be irritable,
have pressured speech and act in very irrational
and impulsive ways.
If someone in your life is acting this way,
it's best to not address it
until they are out of that episode
and then simply mention that you notice
they haven't been themselves
and you're happy to help them get some help
in any way you can.
The goal is to express our worry
and get them professional help, not to judge them.
So try to keep that in mind
when you're preparing what you wanna say
because we wanna make sure that they really hear us.
Also, keep in mind that in my experience
most people are more apt to hear us and want to get help
when they're in a depressive episode
rather than a manic or hypomanic episode.
So if you're able to catch them at that time,
it could be better and the last thing I wanna talk about
is just that bipolar 2 disorder is often misdiagnosed
as major depressive disorder
usually because those with bipolar 2
go in to see a therapist or doctor when they're depressed
and feeling down.
Makes sense, right, we feel terrible, we wanna get help
then when they ask us about our symptoms,
we're only gonna be able to tell them
about what we're feeling right now.
So they think that all we experience is depression
and they diagnose us as such but the scary part
and I mentioned this in my bipolar 1 video
if we're given an SSRI or an SNRI
otherwise known as an antidepressant,
we can be pushed into mania or hypomania.
The medicine will actually activate us and push us into that
and that can lead to devastating consequences for us
because if you remember hypomania and mania
can cause us to overshop, have risky sex
and do things that are completely out of our character
and that's why it's so important
that we track our own symptoms, write them down
and when you go for your appointment, read them off,
tell them when this happened,
when you felt that way, how long it lasted
and it can also help to bring a family member,
close friend or a spouse to our appointment
'cause I'll be honest, they often notice more than we do
and they can fill in any blanks for us.
They might know that a few weeks ago
we were feeling very different than we are now
and we might have just forgot about it
and so doing this will ensure like tracking our mood,
bringing someone in with us, talking to the doctor,
taking our time to make sure
we tell them all the things we're feeling
will ensure that we get properly diagnosed and treated.
I hope that helped answer any questions
that you have about bipolar 2 disorder and as always,
feel free to share your own thoughts
and experience down in the comments.
It's always best when we learn about things together.
Thank you so much for watching and I will see you next time.
Bye.
(calm music)