There has been a long-standing question of whether or not bipolar disorders are underdiagnosed or overdiagnosed. Some researchers suggest bipolar disorders are overdiagnosed due to the “bipolar spectrum” problem of including a variety of symptoms and cases under the classification of bipolar disorders (Mazza et al., 2013). However, a recent study has suggested bipolar disorders are underdiagnosed in those experiencing depressive episodes (Bschor et al., 2012); this may be an important area of research to consider in further studies of bipolar disorder prevalence.
Perhaps a problem in this type of research is the nature of the disorders themselves. A person experiencing symptoms of depression may also occasionally experience periods of uncharacteristic euphoria (though perhaps not appearing abnormal for the experiencer, and certainly not unwelcome), which may be mistaken as a sign that the battle with depression is close to an end. Especially if such a person is not receiving treatment, one might question the likelihood that bipolar-like symptoms would be considered in the first place. After all, getting a break from those dark caves of life is nothing short of fantastic, and seldom do people complain to their doctors about feeling too amazing.
The debate of overdiagnosis/underdiagnosis will surely continue as the struggle to find better methods of identifying and treating bipolar disorders remains a contested issue in the literature. While such debates continue, further education about bipolar disorders is certainly called for, as there are many misconceptions surrounding it. For more education on assessing bipolar disorders, the following link can provide some insight to some of the ways clinicians and researchers look at bipolar disorders: http://www.crestbd.ca/assessment-scales/
References
Bschor, T., Angst, J., Azorin, J. M., Bowden, C. L., Perugi, G., Vieta, E., . . . Krüger, S. (2012). Are bipolar disorders underdiagnosed in patients with depressive episodes? Results of the multicenter BRIDGE screening study in Germany. Journal of Affective Disorders, 142(1-3), 45-52. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22954812
Mazza, M., Di Nicola, M., Janiri, L., & Bria, P. (2013). To be or not to be a bipolar disorder patient: Problems with diagnosis. The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 201(4). http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/NMD.0b013e3182901de0
