Mood reactivity can occur within episodes of bipolar disorder, although episodes may occur spontaneously and without an obvious precipitant or stressor. Impulsivity may represent more of an essential feature of BPD than affective instability or mood reactivity and may be of particular diagnostic relevance.
Treatment implications
When you are unable to make a clear diagnosis, describe your clinical reasoning and differential diagnosis in the assessment or formulation. With close follow-up, the longitudinal history and course of illness may eventually lead you to an accurate diagnosis.
Clinical Point
Recognizing BPD can help the patient understand his or her history and encourages referral for psychosocial treatments
There are good reasons to acknowledge both conditions when bipolar disorder and BPD are present. Proper recognition of bipolar disorder is a prerequisite to taking full advantage of proven pharmacologic treatments. The evidence base for pharmacologic management of BPD remains limited,31 but recognizing this disorder may help the patient understand his or her psychiatric history and encourage the use of effective psychosocial treatments.
Psychosocial treatments for bipolar disorder may target demoralization and circadian rhythms with sleep hygiene or social rhythms therapy. Acknowledging BPD:
helps both clinician and patient to better understand the condition
facilitates setting realistic treatment goals because BPD tends to respond to medication less robustly than bipolar disorder.
Recognizing BPD also allows for referral to targeted psychosocial treatments, including dialectical behavior therapy, mentalization-based treatment, or Systems Training for Emotional Predictability and Problem Solving (STEPPS).32-34
Dr. Fiedorowicz reports no financial relationship with any company whose products are mentioned in this article or with manufacturers of competing products.
Dr. Black receives research/grant support from AstraZeneca and Forest Laboratories and is a consultant to Jazz Pharmaceuticals.
Acknowledgment
The authors would like to thank Nancee Blum, MSW, and Nancy Hale, RN, for their assistance and expertise in the preparation of this article.
