Bipolar Disorder Support Group
Bipolar disorder is not just a single disorder, but a category of mood disorders marked by periods of abnormally high energy and euphoria, often accompanied by bouts of clinical depression. This is the place to talk about your experience with bipolar disorder, learn from others' experiences, and find support.
Hi, I keep reading here and at other posts how people 'discover' they're BP after they go manic on an antidepressant. This is NOT a sign of BP. Anyone may go manic on anti-depressants, and that's why that is specifically excluded from the DSM-IV criteria for BP.
If your doc decides you're BP because you took Paxil and went manic, then he's not familiar with DSM-IV, and that is a problem.
A couple of other comments: it is not only the SSRIs that have the potential to induce mania. Any anti-depressant treatment, including light therapy, can induce it. However, it is not a sentence. I looked up some articles on SSRIs, and found that only ~10% of BP patients develop mania when on them.
If your doc decides you're BP because you took Paxil and went manic, then he's not familiar with DSM-IV, and that is a problem.
A couple of other comments: it is not only the SSRIs that have the potential to induce mania. Any anti-depressant treatment, including light therapy, can induce it. However, it is not a sentence. I looked up some articles on SSRIs, and found that only ~10% of BP patients develop mania when on them.
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E) The symptoms are not due to the direct physiological effects of a substance (e.g., a drug of abuse, a medication or other treatment) or a general medical condition (e.g., hyperthyroidism)
Note: Manic-like episodes that are clearly caused by somatic antidepressant treatment (e.g., medication, electroconvulsive therapy, light therapy) should not count toward a diagnosis of Bipolar I disorder."