What is the difference between bipolar disorder and cyclothymia?

What is the difference between bipolar disorder and cyclothymia?

In a traditional diagnosis of bipolar I or bipolar II, a person will experience long-term mood cycles of mania and deep depression. When a person experiences cyclothymia, these shifts happen on a smaller scale. They oscillate between hypomania (a slightly manic state) and low-grade depression.

Is cyclothymia worse than bipolar?

Although the highs and lows of cyclothymia are less extreme than those of bipolar disorder, it’s critical to seek help managing these symptoms because they can interfere with your ability to function and increase your risk of bipolar I or II disorder.

Does cyclothymia count as bipolar?

According to the most recent Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V), cyclothymia is distinguished from bipolar disorder because it lacks the full criteria of major depression, mania, or a mixed episode disorder.

Can bipolar mimic dementia?

Among the most prevalent diseases that can cause reversible dementia are affective disorders. Affective disorders include major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, dysthymic disorder and cyclothymic disorder [1].

What is the usual age of onset for Cyclothymic disorders?

Youth with cyclothymic disorder also reported an early age of symptom onset. Three-quarters had symptom onset before they were aged 10 years, and the average age of onset for youth with cyclothymic disorder was 6 years.

Is cyclothymia a personality disorder?

Cyclothymia, or cyclothymic disorder, is often considered a milder and chronic form of bipolar disorder (previously known as manic-depressive disorder). People with cyclothymia experience cyclic “high” and “lows” as portrayed by large swings in mood and energy levels that negatively affect their ability to function.

What is it like living with cyclothymia?

If you have cyclothymia, you’ll have periods of feeling low followed by periods of extreme happiness and excitement (called hypomania) when you do not need much sleep and feel that you have a lot of energy. The periods of low mood do not last long enough and are not severe enough to be diagnosed as clinical depression.

How can you tell the difference between bipolar and dementia?

Despite the above similarities, the two disorders also have important differences. As expected, cognitive symptoms prevail in dementia and mood symptoms in bipolar disorder. In dementia but not in bipolar disorder there is evidence that brain structural abnormalities are diffuse and hippocampal volumes are smaller.

What is end stage bipolar disorder?

For many patients, the illness presents a progressively deteriorating course. Late stages are characterized by chronic cognitive and functional impairment, often with subsyndromal mood symptoms and are associated with refractoriness to standard treatment options.

Do people with cyclothymia have major depressive episodes?

Compared with more serious mood disorders, the mood symptoms of cyclothymia are mild. Depressive symptoms in cyclothymic disorder never reach the criteria for major depression.

How does cyclothymic disorder affect relationships?

As cyclothymia often makes emotional regulation more difficult for those who experience it, the condition may also present challenges in interpersonal relationships. Hypomanic periods may increase a person’s likelihood to overreact to things that happen around them, which may increase tension within a relationship.

How fast are cyclothymia cycles?

Cyclothymic disorder is a rather stable mild condition with very frequent mood shifts from depression to hypomania. Rapid cycling has formed episodes of illness (hypomanic episodes of at least four days and depressive episodes of at least two weeks).