In pregnant and postpartum women, a bipolar depression can look just like a very severe depression, or might be experienced as anxiety. It is very important that your mood history is reviewed to assess whether you have had times of a persistently elevated mood, decreased need for sleep, and periods of over-average productivity. There is a very high risk of increased severity if you are treated only for depression, but have the potential to move into a manic or hypomanic part of your cycle.
Bipolar I Mood Disorder
- Periods of severely depressed mood and irritability
- Mood much better than normal
- Rapid speech
- Little need for sleep
- Racing thoughts, trouble concentrating
- Continuous high energy
- Overconfidence
- Delusions (often grandiose, but including paranoid)
- Impulsiveness, poor judgment, distractibility
- Grandiose thoughts, inflated sense of self-importance
- In the most severe cases, delusions and hallucinations
Bipolar II Mood Disorder
- Periods of severe depression
- Periods when mood much better than normal
- Rapid speech
- Little need for sleep
- Racing thoughts, trouble concentrating
- Anxiety
- Irritability
- Continuous high energy
- Overconfidence