An extreme case of bipolar disorder or manic depression?

NEWYORKER: The Beaver

In regards to your particular question, bipolar disorder (also known as manic depression) is nothing but a description of a certain pattern of symptoms.

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However, his illness had taken its toll on Zeta Jones who, in April 2011, said she had received treatment for bipolar disorder, also known as manic depression.

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Whenever I hear of young adults with the type of disabling depression you describe -- and especially when they are men -- I worry that they may go on to have a more serious condition called bipolar disorder, also known as manic-depression.

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Bipolar disorder, which is sometimes called manic depression, is marked by mood swings.

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Van Gogh, Mr Gayford says, suffered from bi-polar disorder, a severe form of manic depression which can now be treated with lithium but which then was undiagnosed.

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She has developed bipolar disorder because she is clearly having a manic episode.

CNN: Can a manic episode look like a tantrum?

"You've got all these young kids running around with this diagnosis, yet many of them have never, ever had a manic episode, which is the hallmark of bipolar disorder, " said Carroll, now the scientific director of the Pacific Behavioral Research Foundation.

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In the case of bipolar disorder, the pattern requires the presence of at least one manic episode and usually also includes episodes of depression.

CNN: Can a manic episode look like a tantrum?

Taylor's fascination with psychology grew out of her own family's experience with mental illness: her father was diagnosed as manic depressive, and in high school, she herself was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, though she was not medicated.

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