Diagnosis and classification

The diagnosis of bipolar disorders and its episodes is based on purely clinical criteria which are hence subject to controversy and interpretation. Nonetheless, bipolar disorders (especially type I) has in its favor a validity of construct and long-term stability that are greater than those of other mental disorders.Unlike anxiety, depression, or psychosis, mania is one of the most specific concepts in psychiatric nosology. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders 4th edition (DSM-IV) diagnostic criteria for schizophrenia require exclusion of a manic picture, but the reverse is not the case. Even so, maniform symptoms are observed in other pathologies.