Mazza Marianna, Di Nicola Marco, Janiri Luigi, Bria Pietro
Department of Neurosciences, Institute of Psychiatry and Psychology, Bipolar Disorders Unit, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Rome, Italy.
J Nerv Ment Dis. 2013 May;201(5):435-7. doi: 10.1097/NMD.0b013e3182901de0.
The diagnosis of bipolar disorder (BD) is predominantly clinical. Some authors have suggested that BD is underdiagnosed and that many patients, particularly those with major depressive disorder, actually have BD. Some studies have suggested that BD is wrongly diagnosed, probably because of the idea of a "bipolar spectrum." To address this potential overdiagnosis, clinicians should carefully and systematically assess whether symptoms are included in diagnostic criteria and include the individual context of the patient.
