Question from a Member (in response to the article about managing antidepressant-induced mania/hypomania; emphasis in red added by us):
I am a little confused. If someone has a manic or hypomanic episode, whether or not it was induced by an SSRI, wouldn’t that automatically qualify them for bipolar disorder? Personally, if I see mania or hypomania in a patient, no matter what the circumstances, I automatically put them on a mood stabilizer (obviously after having a discussion with the patient).
In another article on this website, we have explained when to make a diagnosis of antidepressant-induced mania/hypomania according to DSM-5-TR®. Please see:
What is antidepressant-induced mania or hypomania?
And in another, longer article on this website, we discussed how the correct diagnosis of antidepressant-induced mania/hypomania should be made and how this condition should be managed. Please see the following article on this website:
How should antidepressant-induced mania or hypomania be managed?
I am glad that we are continuing to discuss this issue because, in my experience, BOTH of the following are true:
1. The diagnoses of bipolar I or II disorders continue to be frequently missed, causing serious harms to these patients. So, I am very much in favor of energetic efforts to avoid this error.
2. But, simultaneously, many patients get wrongly diagnosed as having a bipolar disorder and are treated with a classic mood stabilizer and/or a second-generation antipsychotic for many years.
On this page, we are only discussing this second type of situation—patients being wrongly diagnosed as having a bipolar disorder.
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