Bipolar Spectrum

The bipolar spectrum (BS) refers to a category of mood disorders that feature abnormally elevated or depressed mood. These disorders range from bipolar I disorder, featuring full-blown manic episodes, to cyclothymia, featuring less prominent hypomanic episodes, to "subsyndromal" conditions where only some of the criteria for mania or hypomania are met. These disorders typically also involve depressive symptoms or episodes that alternate with the elevated mood states, or with mixed episodes that feature symptoms of both. The concept of the bipolar spectrum is similar to that of Emil Kraepelin's original concept of manic depressive illness. Currently, manic depressive illness is usually referred to as bipolar disorder or simply bipolar.