Early diagnosis of bipolar II disorder

Abstract

The materials of the article are devoted to the study of the possibilities of early detection of bipolar affective disorder (BAD) type II using a screening questionnaire in patients diagnosed with dysthymia. The reasons of late diagnosis of bipolar spectrum disorders, difficulties in detecting episodes of hypomania, consequences of incorrect diagnosis, screening systems for early detection of BAD are considered. The effectiveness of using The Bipolar Spectrum Diagnostic Scale (BSDS) to establish the possibility of BAD in patients with dysthymia has been substantiated. Indicators obtained by the BSDS scale show that 27.78 % of patients with dysthymia have a moderate probability of bipolar spectrum disorders, 16.67 % of patients in this category — low probability and 8.33 % of subjects — high probability. It was found that a high and moderate probability of bipolar spectrum disorders is associated with the early onset of dysthymia (r = 0.421 and r = 0.396, respectively).