Tumblr crosspost (24 February 2021)
May. 15th, 2024 10:40 amAn anon said:
I was also told by a psychologist that bipolar depression is usually worse than mdd/unipolar depression, it really is messed up how it’s overlooked and people seem to really underestimate how bad it is to have bipolar ii. Like it’s not that bad if you don’t have mania that ends up with you in the hospital
I replied:
Some quick research turned up a lot of debate about bipolar vs major depression, but regardless, I agree that there seems this tendency to understate/underestimate what bipolar II is like. Of course mania is more severe than hypomania (that’s what defines the distinction!), but depression is so dominant in both that only treating bipolar I as the real deal is puzzling and awful IMO.
And if “mere” hypomania is supposedly not enough to make bipolar II a serious problem for those of us with it, what about depression with no mania at all? It’s just a terribly harmful perspective all around.
I was also told by a psychologist that bipolar depression is usually worse than mdd/unipolar depression, it really is messed up how it’s overlooked and people seem to really underestimate how bad it is to have bipolar ii. Like it’s not that bad if you don’t have mania that ends up with you in the hospital
I replied:
Some quick research turned up a lot of debate about bipolar vs major depression, but regardless, I agree that there seems this tendency to understate/underestimate what bipolar II is like. Of course mania is more severe than hypomania (that’s what defines the distinction!), but depression is so dominant in both that only treating bipolar I as the real deal is puzzling and awful IMO.
And if “mere” hypomania is supposedly not enough to make bipolar II a serious problem for those of us with it, what about depression with no mania at all? It’s just a terribly harmful perspective all around.