What Is The Bipolar Spectrum Diagnostic Scale?
Bipolar Spectrum Diagnostic Scale (BSDS) is a diagnostic tool used to determine if someone with mood disorder symptoms has bipolar disorder. The Bipolar Spectrum Diagnostic Scale contains nineteen sentences.
S. Nassir Ghaemi, M.D., M.P.H. refined the Bipolar Spectrum Diagnostic Scale originally developed by Ronald Pies, M.D. This diagnostic tool is considered sensitive and can detect all variations and levels of severity of bipolar disorder.
Pies was motivated to create the Bipolar Spectrum Diagnostic Scale after he had worked with several people who were labeled as having "treatment-resistant depression" only to discover they actually had bipolar spectrum disorder or mild bipolar disorder. Bipolar spectrum disorder is not an official diagnosis in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) which is used by mental health professionals to diagnose psychiatric disorders.
Bipolar spectrum disorder is used by some practioners to include people with bipolar symptoms that are not severe enough to warrant a bipolar disorder diagnosis according the the guidelines of the DSM. People who have some bipolar symptoms but not enough for an official bipolar diagnosis may be considered by some mental health professionals to have soft bipolar disorder or soft bipolar spectrum disorder.
The Bipolar Spectrum Diagnostic Scale has two sections. The first section has nineteen sentences that describe the main symptoms of bipolar disorder. The patient is to check the sentences that describe their feelings or behaviors.
The second section contains a rating scale. The patients must rate how well the nineteen sentence narrative of section one as a whole fits their personal experiences. The number of the sentences checked in first section is the score for that section.
The score of the second section is based on how the collection of sentences of section one is rated as a whole by the patient. If the patient rated the story as fitting them very well or almost perfectly, six points are added to the person's score. Four points are added if the patient rated the collection of sentences as fitting their experiences fairly well.
Two points are added if the patient said the story fits to some degree but not in most respects. If the person says the story does not describe them at all, no points are added to their score.
If the patient scores nineteen or higher, bipolar disorder is considered highly likely. If the score is eleven to eighteen, bipolar disorder is moderately probable. There is a low probability if the score is six to ten. Bipolar disorder is very unlikely if the score is under six.
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