What is bipolar disorder?

Bipolar disorder is a mental health condition marked by extreme shifts in mood.

Key symptoms include:

episodes of mania, or an extremely elevated mood
episodes of depression, or a low mood

Older terms for bipolar disorder include manic depression and bipolar disease.

Bipolar disorder isn’t a rare condition. In fact, the National Institute of Mental HealthTrusted Source says that 2.8 percent of U.S. adults — or about 5 million people — have a bipolar disorder diagnosis.

Although bipolar disorder doesn’t have a cure, many effective treatments are available. These treatment options can help you learn to manage mood episodes, which can improve not only your symptoms, but also your overall quality of life.
Types of bipolar disorder

There are three main types of bipolar disorder: bipolar I, bipolar II, and cyclothymia.
Bipolar I

Bipolar I is defined by the appearance of at least one manic episode. You may experience hypomanic episodes, which are less severe than manic episodes, or major depressive episodes before and after the manic episode. This type of bipolar disorder affects people of all sexes equally.
Bipolar II

People with bipolar II experience one major depressive episode that lasts at least 2 weeks. They also have at least 1 hypomanic episode that lasts about 4 days. According to a 2017 reviewTrusted Source, this type of bipolar disorder may be more common in women.
Cyclothymia

People with cyclothymia have episodes of hypomania and depression. These episodes involve symptoms that are shorter and less severe than the mania and depression caused by bipolar I or bipolar II disorder. Most people with this condition only experience no mood symptoms for 1 or 2 months at a time.

Your doctor can explain more about what kind of bipolar disorder you have when discussing your diagnosis.

Some people experience distinct mood symptoms that resemble but don’t quite align with these three types. If that’s the case for you, you might get a diagnosis of:

other specified bipolar and related disorders
unspecified bipolar and related disorders

Learn more about the types of bipolar disorder.
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Bipolar disorder symptoms

To receive a diagnosis of bipolar disorder, you must experience at least one period of mania or hypomania.

These both involve feelings of excitement, impulsivity, and high energy, but hypomania is considered less severe than mania. Mania symptoms can affect your day-to-day life, leading to problems at work or home. Hypomania symptoms typically don’t.

Some people with bipolar disorder also experience major depressive episodes, or “down” moods.

These three main symptoms — mania, hypomania, and depression — are the main features of bipolar disorder. Different types of bipolar disorder involve different combinations of these symptoms.
Bipolar I symptoms

A diagnosis of bipolar I disorder requires:

at least 1 episode of mania that lasts at least 1 week
symptoms that affect daily function
symptoms that don’t relate to another medical or mental health condition or substance use

You could also experience symptoms of psychosis, or both mania and depression (known as mixed features). These symptoms can have more impact on your life. If you do have them, it’s worth reaching out for professional support as soon as possible (more on this later).

While you don’t need to experience episodes of hypomania or depression to receive a bipolar I diagnosis, many people with bipolar I do report these symptoms.
Bipolar II symptoms

A diagnosis of bipolar II requires:

at least 1 episode of hypomania that lasts 4 days or longer and involves 3 or more symptoms of hypomania
hypomania-related changes in mood and usual function that others can notice, though these may not necessarily affect your daily life
at least 1 episode of major depression that lasts 2 weeks or longer
at least 1 episode of major depression, involving 5 or more key depression symptoms that have a significant impact on your day-to-day life
symptoms that don’t relate to another medical or mental health condition or substance use

Bipolar II can also involve symptoms of psychosis, but only during an episode of depression. You could also experience mixed mood episodes, which means you’ll have symptoms of depression and hypomania at the same time.

With bipolar II, though, you won’t experience mania. If you have a manic episode, you’ll receive a diagnosis of bipolar I.
Cyclothymia symptoms

A diagnosis of cyclothymia requires:

periods of hypomanic symptoms and periods of depression symptoms, off and on, over 2 years or longer (1 year for children and adolescents)
symptoms that never meet full criteria for an episode of hypomania or depression
symptoms that are present for at least half of the 2 years and never absent for longer than 2 months at a time
symptoms that don’t relate to another medical or mental health condition or substance use
symptoms that cause significant distress and affect daily life

Fluctuating mood symptoms characterize cyclothymia. These symptoms may be less severe than those of bipolar I or II. Still, they tend to last longer, so you’ll generally have less time when you experience no symptoms.

Hypomania may not have a big impact on your daily life. Depression, on the other hand, often leads to more serious distress and affects day-to-day function, even if your symptoms don’t qualify for a major depressive episode.

If you do ever experience enough symptoms to meet the criteria for a hypomanic or depressive episode, your diagnosis will likely change to another type of bipolar disorder or major depression, depending on your symptoms.