BTSC Staff Nurse 30July-2025
Mental Health Nursing
Easy
The depressive disorder characterised by periods of both depression and mania is termed as:
Appeared in: BTSC Staff Nurse 30July-2025
Explanation
- Bipolar disorder is defined by the presence of at least one manic or hypomanic episode, and most individuals also experience major depressive episodes.
- The core feature is the cyclical nature of mood, swinging between the poles of mania (highs) and depression (lows).
- Historically, this condition was called manic-depressive psychosis, which directly reflects its dual nature.
Why Other Options Were Wrong
- Option A: Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is a type of depression that's related to changes in seasons. It is characterized by depressive episodes but lacks the manic or hypomanic episodes required for a bipolar disorder diagnosis.
- Option B: Dysthymia is a former name for Persistent Depressive Disorder. It involves chronic, low-grade depression lasting for at least two years, but it does not include manic episodes.
- Option D: Persistent Depressive Disorder (PDD), which includes what was formerly known as dysthymia, is characterized by a long-standing depressive mood. It is a unipolar depression, meaning it does not involve the 'highs' of mania or hypomania.
Related Visual
Clinical Relevance
- Nursing practice connection: This is primarily an exam-oriented knowledge point with limited direct bedside application, so retain Classification of Mood Disorders as background academic context rather than a clinical decision trigger.
- Accurately differentiating bipolar disorder from unipolar depression is critical for patient safety and treatment efficacy. Prescribing antidepressants alone to a person with bipolar disorder can trigger a manic episode, worsening the course of the illness.
- Nurses play a vital role in monitoring for mood shifts in patients being treated for depression. Observing signs of mania (e.g., decreased sleep, rapid speech, increased energy) in a depressed patient should be reported immediately as it may indicate an underlying bipolar disorder.
- What if? If a patient presents with depression but also reports periods of unusually high energy, creativity, and reduced need for sleep, the nurse should suspect a bipolar spectrum disorder rather than major depressive disorder, prompting a more detailed psychiatric assessment.
How to Approach the Question
- First, identify the key terms in the question stem: 'depression' and 'mania'.
- The question asks for a single disorder that encompasses both of these states.
- Review the definitions of the options provided.
- Seasonal affective disorder and persistent depressive disorder (dysthymia) are types of unipolar depression, meaning they involve only the 'low' or depressive pole.
- Bipolar disorder, by definition, involves two poles: mania (the 'high' pole) and depression (the 'low' pole).
- Therefore, match the disorder that includes both key terms from the stem.
Concept Tested & Keywords
- Concept Tested: Classification of Mood Disorders
- Stem keywords: depressive disorder, depression, mania
- Lead-in keywords: termed as
- Negative lead-in flag: false
Question ID
Qu6A6QCZg_QrSNJoMbQM2F
Reference Book
E6 Robert Boland, Marcia L. Verduin - Kaplan and Sadock's Comprehensive Text of Psychiatry-Wolters Kluwer Health (2024) (pp 1-16525 of 16525) pp. 5315-5317, 5439-5441
E6 Kaplan Sadock's Synopsis of Psychiatry-2022 (pp 1-3768 of 3768) p. 1177-1179
Practise the full BTSC Staff Nurse 30July-2025
Attempt every question from this paper in a timed mock, then review the full solution for each one.
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