Whats is the difference between ADHD n Bipolar Disorder ?

Question

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Answer 1

ADHD is a psychological disorder charactered by either inattention, hyperactivity/impulsivity that must have been persistend for at least 6 months to a degree that is maladaptive and inconsistent with developmental level. Some of the symptoms causing impairment were present beofre age 7. Some impairment from the symptoms is present in two or more settings. There must be clear evidence of clinically significant impairment in social, academic or occupational functioning. Occurance is not exclusively during the course of a PDD, Schisophrenia or tother psychotic disorder. .. there are 3 types. predominantly huperactive type, predominantly inattentive type and combimed type.
Bipolar disorder is a serious illness. It can make a person’s normal moods seem extreme. It used to be called manic depression. People with bipolar disorder have mood swings. Their moods can swing from very low (depression) to very high (mania). Bipolar disorder sometimes is confused with other types of depression. Bipolar disorder is a lifelong illness. But today there are many treatments. People with bipolar disorder should ask their healthcare provider about the best way to keep their moods from swinging too far one way or the other. bipolar disorder, or manic depression, each mood swing is called an “episode.” There are 4 main types of mood episodes that people with bipolar disorder can have: Depression — Depression is when people with bipolar disorder feel very sad. Sometimes this can go on for a long period of time. They may not even want to get out of bed or eat. They don’t enjoy doing things they used to do. Mania — Mania is the other side of bipolar disorder. Mania may start with a good feeling, almost like a “high.” Or it may make a person feel very irritable and angry. People with mania may do very risky things. Hypomania — Hypomania is a milder form of mania. It can make people feel good. They may think they are getting more things done. But the “feel good” stage can change into mania or depression. Hypomania is different from mania because it doesn’t get in the way of things like work or family. It sometimes is not even noticed as a problem. Mixed mood — This is when feelings of mania and depression go back and forth quickly, sometimes even in the same day.

Answer 2

This is a very important question.

Many people, including in the medical profession, confuse ADHD and bipolar.

Although there are many similarities and some comon treatments, IT IS IMPERATIVE TO GET THE CORRECT DIAGNOSIS. (Sorry for yelling.) This is because some ADHD medications can make the manic symptoms of bipolar much worse.

It is always a good idea to consult an expert, but here are some useful rules of thumb:

A person is more likely to have ADHD than be bipolar if:

1. No matter how chronic or chaotic their behavior is, it is a constant pattern. Bipolar people CYCLE - it is the episodic nature of the disorder that distinguishes it.

2. ADHD people may have trouble getting to sleep, but do eventually go to bed at night. Bipolar people in a manic episode may skip sleep completely, sleep very little or sleep at odd hours.

3. ADHD people tend not to experience the "highs" of bipolar people such as extremely happy moods that are often described as "expansive" or "euphoric".

4. They are consistently putting themselves down and tend to have low self esteem or a sense of impending failure or doom. Bipolar people may feel this when depressed but, unlike ADHD people, they also experience feelings of grandiosity - a belief they can accomplish anything and everything. With ADHD it is possible to have peroids of "hyperfocus" and be ultra-productive, but this is different to the manic certainty of the bipolar person believing they can acheive whatever pops into their head.

Please see the links below for more detail.

The first link describes similarities as well as differences between ADHD and bipolar. Remember also - it is possible to have both.

The 2nd link is to free online bipolar tests that uses the same instruments that a professional psychiatrist would use.

Answer 3

Bipolar disorder (manic/depressive disorder) is when a person experiences abrupt and noticable mood swings. Can be extremely happy and chatty one or several days and then can fall into a depressive state. Each state can last for days, weeks or months. Medication can help those individuals to keep their moods on a more even keel. ADHD is attention defeceit hyperactivity disorder. That is when an individual cannot focus and concentrate on one thing for a long period of time. They are easily distracted. have trouble completing a task. It is accompanied by not being able to sit still or remain quiet for a period of time. Again, prescription medications may help but may make the person groggy or a bit lethargic so all med treatments should be discussed with a doctor and researched.

Answer 4

They're vastly different, but they do have some common symptoms. Bipolar disorder deals with episodes of manic emotion and depressive emotion, both of which are very complicated and varied, but to simplify: generally mania involves high moods and depression involves down moods. ADHD involves significant attention impairment, and/or hyperactivity. A lot of manic experiences, and some depressive experiences, can cause a lot of the same symptoms as ADHD, but bipolar disorder is much more involved and complicated than ADHD.

Answer 5

Hi You will find a lot of disorders have some similar symptoms but one clear thing is ADHD people do not have depression because they are ADHD, they could of course have depression as a separate illness. You can look at most disorders and find that they over lap in the symptoms such as ADHD, bipolar, borderline personalty disorder and many many others. take care

Answer 6

Attention Defecit Hyper Active Disorder is when someone has great difficulty focusing along with being very active and unable to sit quietly (a very simple answer, not complete). ADD/ADHD can have co-morbid problems also (about 1/3 do) such as depression, bipolar, etc. A great book to read is The ADD Book, Thompson/Sears, which not only tells about the disorder, it gives practical help for it too.

Bipolar Disorder is basically someone who can have high highs and low lows. They do irrational things in the manic highs (spend lots of money, have lots of sex) and in the lows, suicide is common.

Please understand these are very simple answers I've given to just skim the surface of these problems.

Answer 7

There are similarities, but they are considered different disorders.

ADHD is usually diagnosed in children, and Bipolar is usually diagnosed in adults; however, childhood diangoses of Bipolar seem to be more common now.

The inattentive part of ADHD does not include depression, If the person has depression, it is considered a separate diagnosis. However, depression can include a lack of focus that is very similar to the inattentiveness of ADHD.

The manic part of Bipolar is very similar to the Hyperactive part of ADHD, but it's generally considered more severe. I never heard of ADHD including psychosis like hallucinations or delusions, but sometime Bipolar can include these symptoms.

Also the drugs used to treat the two disorders are usually different, but not always. Amphetamine type drugs like Ritalin and Concerta are typically used to treat ADHD but I never heard of a doctor prescribing these for Bipolar. SSRIs like Prozac and Paxil are sometimes prescribed for ADHD, but generally not for Bipolar, unless the person with Bipolar is also getting another drug in combination. I never heard of Lithium being given for ADHD. Similarly, Bipolar is often treated with seizure-type meds like Klonopin and Depakote, but I never heard of someone with ADHD getting these meds. However, I have heard of Risperidol being used to treat both ADHD and Bipolar.

The agency I work for has some clients who are diagnosed with both ADHD and Bipolar. Sometimes I wonder if they are really two forms of the same disorder, but that's just an opinion. I have heard some others who have the same opinion, but I would be interested to know if any doctors consider that a possibility. It does seem like a lot of mental disorders overlap and the differences aren't always that distinct.

Answer 8

I am bipolar, but not ADHD, however, the symptoms of ADHD and bipolar can overlap. But a person with ADHD doesn't have the mood swings, the mania, and episodes of out of control behavior. ADHD person is always hyper with out meds; and a person with bipolar isn't, they have episodes that can last for a period of time, or rapidly go from mania, down to depression, or any thing in between. Mania is what causes the depressive state, therefore that is what the medical profession tries to stabilize. Lithium will work well with bipolar, doesn't nec. work well with ADHD, and in childern, it won't work at all.

Answer 9

I n simple terms, ADHD people are crazy all the time.

Bipolar people are only crazy when they go manic. They are depressed the rest of the time.

My boyfriend is Bipolar. He has manic episodes about twice a year, each episode lasting 2 to 3 weeks. In other words, he's insane about 6 weeks out of the year.

My neighbor is ADHD. He's insane all the time and medication doesn't work for him.

Answer 10

When my son was younger, I would see him sometimes get really silly, and at other times, he would be terribly grouchy, irritable, etc. He had ADHD, and after reading books by Dr. Doris Rapp, I had him tested for food "allergies" or sensitivities. I discovered that certain foods seemed to trigger responses in him, and once they were eliminated, the changes were much less dramatic. Some of the triggers were: peanut butter or any peanut product including oils: anger, tantrums. Sugar: silliness, and higher activity levels. Oranges or orange products: irritability, difficulty dealing with some situations. Look up the book: "Allergies and the Hyperactive Child", by Dr. Doris Rapp. It can be found on used booksites. Try to overlook the use of the word, "child" in its title, and just look for the information it contains.