Bipolar Disorder Episodes According to the DSM-V

Wherever you see something written about bipolar disorder, the term episode is usually encountered. An episode refers to a collection of symptoms that describe a person's overall mood and behavior.

Let's take a closer look at episodes in bipolar disorder, according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders - Fifth Edition (DSM-V).

During a manic episode, a person has a sustained and abnormally elevated, expansive, or irritable mood for at least one week, and at least three of the following symptoms:

• Grandiosity or an inflated sense of self
• Little need for sleep
• Feeling pressured to speak, talking loudly and rapidly
• Easily distracted
• Engaging in multiple tasks at one time — more than can be realistically accomplished in one day
• Engaging in risky behavior like gambling or unprotected sex
• Racing thoughts

These symptoms are exaggerated and noted by family members and loved ones. They impair a person's ability to function at home, school, and/or work.

During a hypomanic episode, the symptoms of mania only need to last four days in a row. The symptoms do not impair everyday functioning like they do in a manic episode, and they are not severe enough to necessitate hospitalization.

A major depressive episode must last at least two weeks and is characterized by either a severe sadness or feeling of hopelessness and/or a loss of interest or pleasure in activities that the person once enjoyed. Other symptoms that may occur in a major depressive episode include:

• Feeling guilty
• Sleeping problems, like too much or too little
• Feeling agitated or alternatively, feeling slowed down
• Eating more or less
• Fatigue and loss of energy
• Difficulty concentrating
• Thinking of death or suicide

In the DSM-5, the term mixed episode was changed to mixed features. Mixed features mean that a person may either be experiencing a manic episode with at least symptoms of depression or on the contrary, a major depressive episode with at least three symptoms of mania.

Basically, a person is having both symptoms of mania and depression at the same time.

If a person if simultaneously having both a manic and depressive episode, the diagnosis is technically categorized as "manic episode with mixed features."

People with depression and mixed features are at a particularly high risk for developing substance abuse disorders.

Remember a bipolar episode is a distinct period of time when specific symptoms are present that, taken together, classify a person's mood as manic, hypomanic, or depressive.

If you are concerned you are experiencing symptoms of a bipolar episode, please seek care from a mental health professional.