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Bipolar Disorders 

Bipolar Disorders
Chapter:
Bipolar Disorders
Author(s):

Joel Paris

DOI:
10.1093/med/9780199350643.003.0006
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date: 27 May 2022

The overdiagnosis of bipolar disorders is one of the most troubling problems affecting contemporary practice. The concept of a bipolar spectrum has led to unnecessary pharmacological interventions in patients who do not have the classical symptoms of bipolarity. There has also been a failure to distinguish bipolarity from affective instability, which is often a feature of personality disorders. Patients who do not respond to antidepressants may be mistakenly prescribed mood stabilizers. The overdiagnosis of bipolar disorders has also affected child psychiatry, in that children who have severe behavior disorders and irritiability are seen as falling within the spectrum.

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