Screening and Diagnostic Approaches for Bipolar Disorder

One of the challenges in primary care and in psychiatry is determining when we meet a new patient who presents with a “classic” major depressive episode whether that episode is in fact unipolar depression or bipolar depression.

In terms of the diagnostic lists of symptoms, they are identical for both conditions, but the treatments are very different. Over the past decade, a lot of time has been devoted to education and to help clinicians make assessments at that first evaluation.

The better we are at diagnosis, the better the treatment outcomes, and the better the functionality of the patient. There will be fewer adverse effects and possibilities of mood switching. It surfaces an important area and we are working hard to better approach diagnosis and treatment.

Dr Miller is Medical Director, Brain Health, Exeter, NH; Editor in Chief, Psychiatric Times; Staff Psychiatrist, Seacoast Mental Health Center, Exeter, NH; Consulting Psychiatrist, Exeter Hospital, Exeter, NH; Consulting Psychiatrist, Insight Meditation Society, Barre, MA. He is Co-Chair of the Annual Psychiatric Times® World CME Conference™, October 15, 2020 – October 17, 2020. Please visit the following link for more information: https://gotoper.com/go/PSY20PT.