Abstract
It is commonly - but wrongly - assumed that there are no important differences between the clinical presentations of major depressive disorder and bipolar depression. Here we compare clinical course variables and depressive symptom profiles in a large sample of individuals with major depressive disorder (n=593) and bipolar disorder (n=443). Clinical characteristics associated with a bipolar course included the presence of psychosis, diurnal mood variation and hypersomnia during depressive episodes, and a greater number of shorter depressive episodes. Such features should alert a clinician to a possible bipolar course. This is important because optimal management is not the same for bipolar and unipolar depression.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 388-389 |
| Number of pages | 2 |
| Journal | British Journal of Psychiatry |
| Volume | 192 |
| Issue number | 5 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1 May 2008 |