Bipolar and Related Disorder: Other Specified Bipolar

Question 1

What is other specified bipolar?

Answer 1

• bipolar symptoms that do not meet the criteria for the bipolar diagnoses
• symptoms cause clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning

Question 2

What is unspecified bipolar?

Answer 2

• symptoms characteristic of a bipolar that cause clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning
• predominate but do not meet the full criteria for any of the disorders in the bipolar diagnostic class
• unspecified bipolar used in situations in which the clinician chooses not to specify the reason that the criteria are not met for a specific bipolar
• insufficient information to make a more specific diagnosis (e.g., in emergency room settings)

Question 3

What are the specifiers?

Answer 3

• Specify if:
  
  • With anxious distress
    
    • Specify current severity
      
      • Mild: Two symptoms
      • Moderate: Three symptoms
      • Moderate-severe: Four or five symptoms
      • Severe: Four or five symptoms with motor agitation
  • With mixed features
    
    • Manic or hypomanic episode, with mixed features
  • Depressive episode, with mixed features
  • With rapid cycling
  • With melancholic features
  • With atypical features
  • With psychotic features
    
    • With mood-congruent psychotic features
    • With mood-incongruent psychotic features​
  • With catatonia
  • With peripartum onset
  • With seasonal pattern

Specify if:

• In partial remission
• In full remission

Specify current severity of manic episode

• Mild: Minimum symptom criteria are met for a manic episode.
• Moderate: Extreme increase in activity or impairment in judgment.
• Severe: Almost continual supervision is required in order to prevent physical harm to self or others.

Specify current severity of major depressive episode

• Severity is based on the number of criterion symptoms, the severity of those symptoms , and the degree of functional disability.
• Mild: Few, if any, symptoms in excess of those required to meet the diagnostic criteria are present, the intensity of the symptoms is distressing but manageable, and the symptoms result in minor impairment in social or occupational functioning.
• Moderate: The number of symptoms, intensity of symptoms, and/or functional impairment are between those specified for “mild” and “severe.”
• Severe: The number of symptoms is substantially in excess of those required to make the diagnosis, the intensity of the symptoms is seriously distressing and unmanageable, and the symptoms markedly interfere with social and occupational functioning.