The term ‘manic depression‘ was first coined in 1896 by Emil Kraepelin, a German doctor. It was widely used in the psychiatric world throughout the twentieth century, until the American Psychiatric Association renamed it in 1980 as ‘bipolar disorder’ – to reflect the ‘bi-polarity, or dual nature, of the illness (the highs and lows).
The Manic Depression or Bipolar Disorder
Bipolar Disorder is a serious mental illness that’s thought to be caused by an imbalance in the way brain cells communicate with each other.
‘Bipolar disorder is a relatively new term and has gradually replaced ‘manic depression’ as the official name for this condition.