Cyclothymic Disorder
... shifted from job to job since he left home (ran away) at age sixteen. He has the girlfriend, but no other friends. The text says that people with Cyclothymia experience mood swings between depression and elation but they are milder than those seen with Bipolar Disorder. Neither period of elation or depressed mood is severe enough to warrant a diagnosis of Bipolar Disorder. There is a chronic, cyclical pattern of shifting mood states from hypomanic episodes (less severe than manic episodes) to states of mild depression. There are frequent periods of a depressed mood or loss of interest, but not at the level of severity of a major depressive episode. (Chap. 8, p.263) Mr. F. Says “his symptoms have never met full criteria for either a Major Depressive Episode or a Manic Episode”. According to the psychodynamic theory, Bipolar Disorder, in this case Cyclothemia, is a battle between the ego and the superego. During the depressed period, the dominant superego is producing exaggerated feelings of guilt and worthlessness. Then the ego takes over producing periods of elation and self-confidence. Mr. F. May also be harboring some unconscious anger toward his parents for leaving him to be raised by a “succession of aunts and uncles” who...