new to this forum but not to bipolar

what is the difference between manic depression and bipolar disorder

[monkeyc]

Manic depression is the old name and Bipolar is the new name.

From this page : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bipolar_disorder

The term "manic-depressive illness" or psychosis was coined by German psychiatrist Emil Kraepelin in the late nineteenth century, originally referring to all kinds of mood disorder. German psychiatrist Karl Leonhard split the classification again in 1957, employing the terms unipolar disorder (Major depressive disorder) and bipolar disorder.

Manic Depressive Illness was first defined in DSM-II in the late 1960's - Bipolar is an umbrella term for 3 mood disorders - Bipolar Type 1, Bipolar Type 2 and Cyclothymia in decreasing order of severity.

Bipolar is a nosology but now the common term for diagnosis and mani depression is out of usage or old fashioned - I believe that Bipolar was first included in DSM-IV as a distinct illness but I cannot recall.