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Hey everybody, today I'm gonna talk with
you about Bipolar II disorder

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and how it differs from Bipolar I.
So stay tuned.

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♪ (soft music playing) ♪

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So I've heard from many, many, many, many
of you that you needed more information

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about Bipolar disorder. And I heard you!
Don't worry. That's why I'm here right now

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making this video about Bipolar II.

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And I will talk about Bipolar II and how
it differs a little bit from Bipolar I

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but don't worry, I will do another video
about Bipolar I so that you can see the

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differences more clearly. But if you've
not checked out my kind of Bipolar

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summary video that I created a while ago
- remember the whiteboard and I made

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squiggles to kind of show you the
differences and tell you how Bipolar

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disorder works? You're gonna wanna click
here and watch it first because it gives

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you a good summary before we get kind of
more into the nitty-gritty of Bipolar II.

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Without further ado, and as always I have
notes and my handy-dandy DSM. So, Bipolar

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II: Now the way that I always think of 
Bipolar II is that it's the 'depressive'

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side of Bipolar disorder. You never have
mania... never. You have hypomania, and

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this can be sometimes tricky for people to
feel the differences or understand the

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differences, but that's why you have to
see a professional to get a proper

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diagnosis. And so if you're worried that 
you're struggling with this, before trying

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to diagnose yourself I would please
encourage you, I can't encourage you

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enough to see a professional to get a
proper diagnosis, put a treatment plan

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together, and figure out what's the best
path for you. So, Bipolar II you don't

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have mania, but you have hypomania. I'm
gonna read you from the DSM really quick

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about what hypomania may look like. 
It says that you will have an abnormally

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and persistently elevated expansive or 
irritable mood, you can feel really an

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inflated sense of self esteem like "I'm
the best, I can do anything!" and you also

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feel a decreased need for sleep.
And if you remember me talking about mania

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in that other video, and I believe in
other FAQs, it sounds a lot like it right?

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It's just a lower grade. And that's why
it's important to see a professional,

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because they'll know exactly what you're
struggling with. It also says "flight of

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ideas", like "I have so many things
flowing through my mind I can't even - I

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just can't settle down! There's so many
things I wanna do and so many things I

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feel like I wanna change in the world!"
And it can be a really motivated place for

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a lot of people to live in, and I know a
lot of artists and people sometimes like

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being hypomanic, because it's not as
intense as mania, but we get a lot done.

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We have so many ideas! Also, really
distractable - as you can imagine if

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you're thinking about all these different
things it's hard for you to stay on topic.

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"Increased goal-directed activity" - like
I said you're really productive.

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"Excessive involvement in activities that
have a high potential for painful

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consequences" - and this is where we
usually end up in trouble, like we end up

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in the hospital, or our family members or
friends may call 911 to get us help, is if

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y'know we may be sleeping around, we may
be spending obscene amounts of money at

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the mall, we may buy a new car, we may do
things that we shouldn't be doing because

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it could have a really horrific
consequence on the end. And so that is

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kind of how a hypomanic episode looks. It
can be very similar to mania, like I said,

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but it has to last as least at least for
four consecutive days present most of the

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day, nearly every day. And you must also 
have a major depressive episode in order

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to be diagnosed with Bipolar II disorder.
Now a major depressive episode has to last

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at least two weeks, and to give you an
idea of what that may feel like, you have

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to have five or more of the following 
symptoms that have been present during the

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same two-week period, just like I was
saying. Depressed mood most of the day,

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diminished interests like we've talked
about before in the 'Six Signs of

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Depression' anhedonia, not being
interested in pleasurable activities or

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activities that used to be pleasurable to
you are no longer pleasurable, you may

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lose weight, you may gain weight, you may
oversleep, you may not sleep enough, you

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may feel fatigued and have body aches. And
a lot of those things will happen when we

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have Bipolar II because we have to have
hypomania and a major depressive episode.

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Those both have to occur to get the
diagnosis of Bipolar II and you can't have

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mania. If you have mania, that makes you 
Bipolar I. Okay? So that's what Bipolar II

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disorder is. You can see why it's one of
the most misdiagnosed things in the psych

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world - a lot of psychiatrists that I work
with and therapists that I work with feel

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that a lot of people that are diagnosed
with depression may really have Bipolar II

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or people that are diagnosed with Bipolar
II may actually just have Major Depressive

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Disorder. And it can be really difficult
for us to properly diagnose. That's why I

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cannot encourage you enough to seek out
professional help. Get a proper diagnosis,

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get properly assessed, and then you can 
look at your options for treatment. There

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are a lot of options out there. Medication
as always is an option, therapy and

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different treatment centers. There are a
lot of day programs you can go to to

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better understand your illness, there are
group therapy things for you and your

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family because a lot of people with
Bipolar disorder, if they have a hypomanic

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or manic episode, can do some things that
are really detrimental to themselves and

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to their relationships. So there are a lot
of group therapy things available in

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hospital settings, in inpatient settings,
where you can help rebuild that

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relationship and better understand your
own Bipolar disorder so that it can get

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properly treated. And I hope that this
helps, if you like videos where I talk a

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little bit more in-depth about a specific
diagnosis, give it a thumbs up and let me

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know. And leave your comments below:
What has Bipolar II disorder looked like

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for you? What have you done in treatment
to help you better overcome it? Because as

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a community we can be so strong, we have
so many experiences and so much

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information we can gleam from each other.
It's more than just me telling you how we

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diagnose and what your treatment options
are, we can share our stories. So share

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your stories, and I'll see you next time.