Reflections on Psychiatry & Psychology

Bipolar II disorder alternates between depression and hypomania but is hard to diagnose because patients often enjoy or fail to recognize hypomania and seek help only during depression. Recollections may be distorted, so collateral history from others is often crucial for accurate diagnosis.

Joe was in his mid-fifties, an accomplished attorney who has been suffering from recurrent depression since his early adulthood. The depression was difficult to treat; many different medications have been tried, including mood stabilizers (medications for bipolar disorder), but those were prescribed such a long time ago that Joe had  a hard time remembering how he was feeling when they were prescribed. All he knew that for at least the last ten years he was only depressed, so