type 1 , type 2 Bi polar

Hi everyone , I'm just asking this question out of curiosity and to hear other's thought's on the topic , because a friend of mine from my rehab group seems to think bi polar 1 patients seem to have more stability than those who have type 2 bi polar disorder ,from what she said to me  her son has type 1 and she has type 2 , but she also explained to me bi polar 1 has more severe manic episodes and longer in duration which i kinda already knew .

[blondie918]

The difference between bipolar 1 and 2 is the severity and duration of the manic episodes. People with bipolar 2 disorder tend to have less manic episodes than people with bipolar 1. Those with bipolar 1 tend to have more frequent or longer manic episodes that are so severe that they can result in psychosis. Overall, those with bipolar 2 experience more gradual mood changes whereas people with bipolar 2 may have their mood change in an instant

[adel_ezz]

In illness any simple symptom is drastic to the person, whether you have BP I or BP II etc... People having a skin disease or even rash think it's the worst thing that can occur to a person.

Both BP I or II there is no complete remission. Sometimes 1 can be worse than 2 and vice versa depending on the severity of the symptoms in either of them. In 2 depression is dominant and can be severe to the extent that even ECT helps a little. On the contrary in 1 psychosis and mania is dominant hurting the brain tremendously. Some pdocs say (though I don't believe in it) that BP 1 can change into 2 when the more episodes the person has. If you are interested in comparing the different types surf the net under Dr Akiskal who classified all types (though I don't believe this either; because each case is different and is considered atypical on its own) until BP 6 in which no depression occurs just manic episodes, etc...

Forget about the names as some wise pdocs tell you and concentrate better on the symptoms. Medicine doesn't handle the cause of the disease rather the sypmtoms ONLY. You will be amazed to know that a drug liuke tegretol famous as a mood stabilizer is used for a least other 20 symptoms none of them is psych.

[adel_ezz]

i am sorry that 2 changes into 1.