Depression or Bipolar Disorder?

Major depressive disorder and bipolar disorder have a lot in common. Both are mood disorders, meaning they involve fluctuations in mood that can be totally unrelated to life events. Both involve depressive episodes, which are periods of low mood. In fact, the only real difference between major depressive disorder and bipolar disorder is the presence of manic, or manic episodes, in bipolar disorder. But these very similar conditions need to be handled very differently. Antidepressant medications, the primary treatment for major depressive disorder, are extremely dangerous for someone with bipolar disorder to take as they tend to make manic episodes worse.

Om Podcasten

There are people who understand depression and anxiety on a personal level and there are people who understand depression and anxiety on a medical level. There are relatively few people who understand both, and I’m one of them. As a clinical psychologist I have a doctorate degree and thousands of hours of professional experience providing treatment for mood and anxiety disorders. I also have 39 years of personal experience managing mood and anxiety disorders as I myself deal with these struggles. This podcast is my attempt to synthesize my personal knowledge with my professional knowledge.