How Is Rapid Cycling Bipolar Disorder Diagnosed?
Bipolar disorder is diagnosed after someone experiences a hypomanic or manic episode. Rapid cycling bipolar disorder is diagnosed after four episodes of depression, mania, or hypomania occur within one year. Rapid cycling bipolar disorder can be difficult to diagnose. Rapid cycling may seem to make bipolar disorder more obvious, but because most people with rapid cycling bipolar disorder spend far more time depressed than manic or hypomanic, they are often misdiagnosed with “just” depression. For example, in one study of people with bipolar II disorder, the amount of time spent depressed was more than 35 times the amount of time spent hypomanic. Also, people often don’t take note of their own hypomanic symptoms, mistaking them for a period of unusually good mood.
