We will discuss these psychoses, treating them as if they were distinct from schizophrenia and from each other. In actual fact, however, a diagnosis is often extremely difficult to make. The symptoms of one disorder may appear in a patient whose general picture indicates another type of psychosis, or symptoms may appear and disappear from time to time. Clinical psychologists and psychiatrists who treat psychotics have become very cautious about labeling or making a firm diagnosis of a disorder. The mood of a bipolar mood disorder may swing from high elation to deep depression Bipolar mood disorder reactions are disorders of an emotional nature.
Normal people have swings in mood from elation to depression.
In between these swings are periods of relative calm. Figure 1 is a graphic representation of the emotional changes in normal people. The bipolar mood disorder also shows variations in mood, but the swings are much more extreme. There is a rapid shift from a calm state to an active state. Figure 2 illustrates the mood swings of three types of bipolar mood disorders.