Major depressive episode: Diagnostic caveats

In diagnosing the symptoms, the Psychiatrist or Psychologist must take the following into account:

* These symptoms must cause clinically important distress, or impair work, social or personal functioning, and they should not fulfil the criteria for Mixed Episode.

Bipolar Disorder: Prognosis

A good prognosis results from good treatment, which, in turn, results from an accurate diagnosis. Because bipolar disorder continues to have a high rate of both under-diagnosis and misdiagnosis, it is often difficult for individuals with the condition to receive timely and competent treatment.

Bipolar disorder can be a severely disabling medical condition. However, with appropriate treatment, many individuals with bipolar disorder can live full and satisfying lives. Persons with bipolar disorder are likely to have periods of normal or near normal functioning between episodes.

Alcoholism: Treatments

Treatments for alcoholism are quite varied because there are multiple perspectives for the condition itself. Those who approach alcoholism as a medical condition or disease recommend differing treatments than, for instance, those who approach the condition as one of social choice.