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Subthreshold bipolarity: diagnostic issues and challenges
Author(s) -
Nusslock Robin,
Frank Ellen
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
bipolar disorders
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.285
H-Index - 129
eISSN - 1399-5618
pISSN - 1398-5647
DOI - 10.1111/j.1399-5618.2011.00957.x
Subject(s) - bipolar disorder , psychology , hypomania , mania , dsm 5 , clinical psychology , psychiatry , major depressive disorder , subthreshold conduction , mood , bipolar ii disorder , psychological intervention , major depressive episode , mood disorders , anxiety , transistor , voltage , physics , quantum mechanics
Nusslock R, Frank E. Subthreshold bipolarity: diagnostic issues and challenges. Bipolar Disord 2011: 13: 587–603. © 2011 The Authors. Journal compilation © 2011 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Background: Research suggests that current diagnostic criteria for bipolar disorders may fail to include milder, but clinically significant, bipolar syndromes and that a substantial percentage of these conditions are diagnosed, by default, as unipolar major depression. Accordingly, a number of researchers have argued for the upcoming 5 th edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM‐5) to better account for subsyndromal hypomanic presentations. Methods: The present paper is a critical review of research on subthreshold bipolarity, and an assessment of some of the challenges that researchers and clinicians might face if the DSM‐5 were designed to systematically document subsyndromal hypomanic presentations. Results: Individuals with major depressive disorder (MDD) who display subsyndromal hypomanic features, not concurrent with a major depressive episode, have a more severe course compared to individuals with MDD and no hypomanic features, and more closely resemble individuals with bipolar disorder on a number of clinical validators. Conclusion: There are clinical and scientific reasons for systematically documenting subsyndromal hypomanic presentations in the assessment and diagnosis of mood disorders. However, these benefits are balanced with important challenges, including (i) the difficulty in reliably identifying subsyndromal hypomanic presentations, (ii) operationalizing subthreshold bipolarity, (iii) differentiating subthreshold bipolarity from borderline personality disorder, (iv) the risk of over‐diagnosing bipolar spectrum disorders, and (v) uncertainties about optimal interventions for subthreshold bipolarity.