EP. 47 Unpacking Diagnoses: Bipolar Disorder - Comparing DSM & Biblical Symptomologies

DSM-IV Criteria for DSM-IV-TR Criteria for “Manic Episode” “Manic Episode”
1. A distinct period of abnormally and persistently elevated, expansive, or irritable mood, lasting at least 1 week.
2. Inflated self-esteem or grandiosity
3. More talkative than usual or pressures to keep talking.
4. Flight of ideas or subjective experience that thoughts are racing.
5. Distractibility
6. Increase in goal-directed activity (either socially, at work or school, or sexual activity).
7. Excessive involvement in pleasurable activities that have a high potential for painful consequences (e.g. engaging in unrestrained buying sprees, sexual indiscretions, or foolish business investments). American Psychiatric Association: Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders, Fourth Edition, Text Revision. Washington, D.C.: American Psychiatric Association, 2000.
Biblical Explanation for Biblical Explanation for
“Manic Episode”
Following are biblical descriptors that more accurately describe the spiritual issues that foster behavior and thinking:
 • Anger/Fits of Rage
 • Pride
 • Anxiety
 • Selfish Ambition
 • Fear
 • Self-Control
 • Drunkenness
 • Sexual Immorality/Adultery
 • Foolishness/Folly
 • Idolatry such as:
  Control
 Significance
 Pleasure
  Acceptance
 Approval
 Security
  Power

Resources Mention:
Elyse Fitzpatrick & Laura Hendrickson: Will Medicine Stop the Pain?: Finding God's Healing for Depression, Anxiety, and Other Troubling Emotions