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I found this while searching for info on Dysphoric mania. Hope it is okay to post it here.
Dysphoria - What is Dysphoria
The dictionary definition of dysphoria is actually very straightforward - a state of feeling unwell or unhappy. However, that could describe anything from PMS to raging flu to crying because your goldfish died. Many medical dictionaries define dysphoria simply as anxiety. But these definitions just do not describe properly the way dysphoria applies to the moods associated with bipolar disorder cycles. Many use dysphoria to define types of manic episodes while others associate it with depressive episodes. The truth is, it is actually quite valid as a description for either mania OR depression.
Dysphoric mania, as described in the Merck Manual, is "prominent depressive symptoms superimposed on manic psychosis." Symptoms include:
Dysphoric depression, which many people think of as a mixed episode, consists of "intrusions of hypomanic symptoms or hyperthymic traits into a retarded major depressive episode" (Merck). Basically, this means that characteristics of hypomania or overactivity occur during a depression that in general has the patient sluggish or listless. Symptoms include:
Important Note: When associated with either mania or depression, dysphoria is linked with a greatly increased risk for suicide and should always be brought to the attention of a medical professional
By Kimberly Read & Marcia Purse, About.com
Dysphoria - What is Dysphoria
The dictionary definition of dysphoria is actually very straightforward - a state of feeling unwell or unhappy. However, that could describe anything from PMS to raging flu to crying because your goldfish died. Many medical dictionaries define dysphoria simply as anxiety. But these definitions just do not describe properly the way dysphoria applies to the moods associated with bipolar disorder cycles. Many use dysphoria to define types of manic episodes while others associate it with depressive episodes. The truth is, it is actually quite valid as a description for either mania OR depression.
Dysphoric mania, as described in the Merck Manual, is "prominent depressive symptoms superimposed on manic psychosis." Symptoms include:
- crying
- curtailed sleep
- racing thoughts
- grandiosity
- psychomotor restlessness
- suicidal ideation
- persecutory delusions
- auditory hallucinations
- indecisiveness
- confusion
Dysphoric depression, which many people think of as a mixed episode, consists of "intrusions of hypomanic symptoms or hyperthymic traits into a retarded major depressive episode" (Merck). Basically, this means that characteristics of hypomania or overactivity occur during a depression that in general has the patient sluggish or listless. Symptoms include:
- irritability
- pressured speech against a background of retardation
- extreme fatigue
- guilty ruminations
- free-floating anxiety
- panic attacks
- intractable insomnia
- increased libido
- histrionic appearance with expressions of depressive suffering
Important Note: When associated with either mania or depression, dysphoria is linked with a greatly increased risk for suicide and should always be brought to the attention of a medical professional
By Kimberly Read & Marcia Purse, About.com
