AUTHOR=Yao Jiashu , Wang Shenpang , Li Yifei , Xu Jiating , Ye Ruihuan , Shen Yuedi , Chen Wei , Dai Ning TITLE=How to treat major depressive disorder with shorter-duration hypomanic episodes? A case report JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychiatry VOLUME=15 YEAR=2024 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychiatry/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1411882 DOI=10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1411882 ISSN=1664-0640 ABSTRACT=

Here we report on a case of a 61-year-old female patient with 7-year history of major depressive disorder with shorter-duration hypomanic episodes who was prescribed with antidepressants which turned out to be ineffective. After a COVID-19 infection, the patient’s clinical presentation became sufficient for the diagnosis of bipolar disorder and she was consistently effective on a mood stabilizer and an atypical antipsychotic. The course of treatment in this case suggests bipolar disorder is not a binary disorder, but a continuous spectrum disorder. For patients suffering from major depressive disorder with shorter-duration hypomanic episodes, mood stabilizers and atypical antipsychotics are possibly more suitable than antidepressants.