Psychiatrists perform what is called a mental status examination, which is the equivalent to a medical doctor performing a physical examination. This mental status examination consists of examining speech patters and behavior, asking questions about their mood and evaluating concentration and memory. These evaluation results are then transformed into a description of a category of illness and from this, a course of treatment is selected.
There are two types of bipolar disorder, bipolar I and bipolar II, separated for the most part by the severity of the disorder. Bipolar I is the classic variety of bipolar disorder in which there are full blown manic attacks accompanied by deep depression. In bipolar I the individual experiences deep depression followed by mild depression and then he/she enters into hypomania and finally mania which is defined simply as "madness" or "insanity." Symptoms for bipolar I usually begin in the late teens or early twenties. These symptoms come and go which is why physicians refer to bipolar I as a relapsing and remitting illness. Bipolar I attacks can last a week or they can last years if not treated. But with today's treatment bipolar I episodes last a few days or weeks at the most.
Bipolar II is characterized by deep depression accompanied by slight hypomania. In bipolar II, the individual experiences deep depression followed by mild depression and then he/she enters into slight hypomania or if there is such a term "slight madness." Bipolar II patients seem to have more problems with depression and because of this coupled with slight hypomania, individuals are sometimes misdiagnosed with depressive disorder rather than bipolar disorder. Bipolar II patients are also at a higher risk to fall victim to alcoholism. Bipolar II is thought of as a milder form of bipolar I and is more common than bipolar I.
Along with Bipolar I and Bipolar II disorders, there is another less severe type of bipolar disorder called cyclothymic disorder.