Bipolar depression or?

[Always Changing]

Can a person with bipolar have "normal" depression?
I have been wondering if for instance, If I was in therapy and dealing with x issue and in so doing become depressed, how do I know if it is just the issue at hand that is making me feel this way or whether it is another mood episode? is there any distinction here? if so what is it and how does one know and what would be the bast way to handle it in that case.

Maybe silly question\s but it won't go away.

This is just one of the thoughts\question running through my mind of late, if anyone can help I would be glad to hear.

 

[Banned]

Re: bipolar depression or??

Hi AC,

I'm hazarding a guess here, but I would say the short answer is yes.

There's situational depression, which all of us experience, when we something specific happens that is upsetting - ie the loss of a job, a loved one, etc.

And then there's depression the disease, which is what kicks in for seemingly no reason except biological.

Everyone gets depressed over life events, so I'd say if you're working on an issue and end up depressed, if you can point your finger to the cause, it's *probably* situational depression.

But David can probably provide a better answer .

 

[Always Changing]

Re: bipolar depression or??

Thanks Turtle,
I think that is the answer\phrase I was looking for, I have heard it before just couldn't seem to remember it. Maybe that is why it was nagging at me, subconsiously knowing there was a phrase for it but not being able to resurrect it.
So then maybe just deal with this as "normal" when in therapy and hope it lifts again when the issue has been dealt with?

I am not in therapy yet, working on that though and just thinking about it had me wondering how to distinguish between the two.
Thank you for your input.

 

[David Baxter PhD]

Ultimately, it doesn't matter as much as you might think.

We used to distingush between endogenous ("biological") depression and exogenous (reactive) depression. But either way, once a person is in a major depresive episode, the depressive symptoms need to be treated and the cause of the depresion is at that point irrelevant, especially for the purpose of determining whether medication is necessary or advisable.

In psychotherapy, it is important to determine what triggered the depression because medication can't resolve the whole issue if the triggers have to do with lifestyle and/or life events.

With bipolar disorder, depressive episodes are common and all of the above applies. However, there is an additional issue with bipolar disorder, i.e., preventing the individual from cycling into hypomania.

 

[Always Changing]

Thanks David,
I can assume then that keeping a journal\diary and or a mood log might be even more important whilst in therapy with respect to identifying the triggers of either dep or hypo episodes. This is something I am not that consistant with. In fact I have had to use posts here to remind me of where I am\was in trying to fill in the gaps.

In psychotherapy, it is important to determine what triggered the depression because medication can't resolve the whole issue if the triggers have to do with lifestyle and/or life events.

I forsee a lot of writing ahead of me .

 

[Fiver]

Maybe silly question\s but it won't go away.

This is just one of the thoughts\question running through my mind of late, if anyone can help I would be glad to hear.

Just for the record, your post isn't silly at all. It was an interesting question with an informative answer.