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. 2008 May;192(5):388-9.
doi: 10.1192/bjp.bp.107.045294.

Clinical differences between bipolar and unipolar depression

Liz Forty  1 , Daniel Smith, Lisa Jones, Ian Jones, Sian Caesar, Carly Cooper, Christine Fraser, Katherine Gordon-Smith, Sally Hyde, Anne Farmer, Peter McGuffin, Nick Craddock
Affiliations

Clinical differences between bipolar and unipolar depression

Liz Forty et al. Br J Psychiatry. 2008 May.

Abstract

It is commonly -- but wrongly -- assumed that there are no important differences between the clinical presentations of major depressive disorder and bipolar depression. Here we compare clinical course variables and depressive symptom profiles in a large sample of individuals with major depressive disorder (n=593) and bipolar disorder (n=443). Clinical characteristics associated with a bipolar course included the presence of psychosis, diurnal mood variation and hypersomnia during depressive episodes, and a greater number of shorter depressive episodes. Such features should alert a clinician to a possible bipolar course. This is important because optimal management is not the same for bipolar and unipolar depression.

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